Health Policy Brief: ‘Meaningful Use’ Of EHRs
August 24th, 2010
by
Chris Fleming
|
The latest Health Policy Brief from Health Affairs and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) examines a new federal effort to encourage the adoption of electronic health records systems and related health information technology (IT). These systems have the potential to transform the delivery of health care. They can help reduce medical errors, guide physicians and others to make the best clinical decisions, make health care more convenient for patients, and contribute to providing the most cost-effective care to the U.S. population.
Most other industries benefited decades ago from adoption of information technology, but the U.S. health care sector has lagged seriously behind. And health care in the United States is well behind that of many other nations in adoption of electronic health records and other health IT.
With that in mind, Congress created a huge pool of incentive payments last year to encourage doctors and hospitals to buy electronic health record systems and integrate the technology into their practices. Those who can demonstrate “meaningful use” of the records can start receiving incentive payments in May 2011.
This new Health Policy Brief examines some of the criteria for proving meaningful use, the debate over whether the current rules are too tough or too loose, and some of the potential generational and demographic challenges facing doctors and hospitals in adopting the new systems. Some of the topics covered are:
- What’s in the law and the regulations? In order to qualify for the incentives in 2011 and 2012, doctors and other clinicians must meet twenty of twenty-five electronic health record objectives. Hospitals need to meet nineteen of twenty-four overlapping objectives. The brief describes the core requirements and the menu of optional items from which providers can choose.
- Barriers and obstacles. Smaller, mostly rural hospitals and less tech-savvy health care providers (who are likely to be older and work in smaller practices) could find the needed investments of time and resources burdensome and the financial incentives insufficient. There has also been a delay in the process of certifying electronic health record systems to be eligible for the meaningful use incentives, as explained in the brief.
- What’s ahead? As the Department of Health and Human Services gears up to monitor the progress of the first stage of meaningful use, it will begin drafting requirements for a second stage, which are likely to be announced in 2012.
About Health Policy Briefs:
Health Policy Briefs are aimed at policy makers, congressional staffers, and others who need short, jargon-free explanations of health policy basics. The briefs include competing arguments on policy proposals from various sides and the relevant research supporting each perspective. The information is objective and reviewed by Health Affairs authors and other specialists with years of expertise in health policy.
Previous policy briefs have addressed:
–Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan: A new federal and state program created by the Affordable Care Act, which has begun to offer affordable health coverage to people with preexisting health conditions.
–Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs): This new delivery system model will be tested under health reform. What is it and how would it work?
– Extra Federal Support for Medicaid: After a lengthy debate, Congress extended an increase in federal assistance to the states that will provide significant aid to state budgets.
– Paying physicians for Medicare services: Congress has passed another temporary fix to halt a scheduled cut in physicians’ Medicare fees. What are the prospects for permanent changes to the so-called Sustained Growth Rate payment formula?
SIGN UP FOR HEALTH POLICY BRIEFS
Sign up for an e-mail alert about upcoming briefs. The briefs are also available from the RWJF’s Web site.
Please feel free to forward the briefs to any of your colleagues who are tracking health issues. And after you’ve taken a look, we welcome your feedback at: hpbrief@healthaffairs.org
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