Guest Commentary: Defining "Meaningful Use" Under the HITECH Act
Guest commentary from Susan Reynolds, M.D., Ph.D., president and CEO of the Institute for Medical Leadership, and Jay Volk, president of Workflow.com.
The concept of interoperability is part of the definition of “meaningful use.” Therefore, many hospitals and physicians that want to position themselves for the Medicare incentives are asking whether EHR systems will “talk” to each other, i.e., what standards will be set by the administration so that these information systems are easily integrated, and when those standards will be set.
The administration should carefully consider its ultimate goals when developing the standard for “meaningful use.” If the administration’s goal is to get technology in the hands of doctors, it should consider writing rules that define meaningful use very liberally. If the goal of the administration is return on investment, it should consider writing rules that define meaningful use with measurable goals. A liberal standard may mean more practitioners buying, but not ultimately using EHRs as effectively as they could be used. A stricter standard may mean fewer practitioners purchasing EHRs, but those practitioners will make the commitment to use them and likely see the metric benefits of EHR use. Of course, the devil in the details of “meaningful use” is usability. Vendors will need to respond to the new federal regulations to make their systems user-friendly for physicians and hospitals.
Susan Reynolds, M.D., Ph.D., can be contacted at sreynolds@medleadership.com or +1 800 361 5321. Jay Volk can be contacted at jay@workflow.com or +1 440 827 2020.
