Meaningful Use

The ARRA HITECH legislation provides that eligible professionals and hospitals who demonstrate "meaningful use" of certified electronic health record technology are eligible for incentive payments. The adoption of EHR and HIT in high priority areas such as electronic prescribing/CPOE, interoperable electronic health records and quality measure reporting can improve patient safety and the quality of healthcare.

Current status: Registration for the Medicare and Medicaid Meaningful Use Incentive program opened January 3, 2011.

Meaningful Use Criteria and Matrix

CMS is charged with establishing the incentive program. The Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) and the Health IT Policy and Standards Committees are assisting with developing criteria and quality measures for reporting meaningful use for 2011 and beyond. For additional information see the following links:

• Incentive Programs for EHRs

Health Information Technology: Standards, Implementation Specifications, and Certification Criteria for EHR Technology 2014 Edition (March 7, 2012)

CMS Meaningful Use Stage 2 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (March 7, 2012)

CMS Publishes Corrections to Meaningful use (January 24, 2011)

Meaningful Use Stages 2 and 3 DRAFT Objectives and Criteria (December 7, 2010)

EHR Incentive Program (Meaningful Use) Final Rule (July 28, 2010)

Initial Set of Standards, Implementation Specifications, and Certification Criteria for EHR Technology Final Rule (July 28, 2010)

ONC Meaningful Use Documents

AHIMA continues to closely follow these developments closely and provide input and recommendations to ONC and CMS that help advance the definition of meaningful use in the context of best HIM practice and standards.

• AHIMA Comments: Meaningful Use Stage 2 Request for Comments (February 24, 2011)
• AHIMA Resource: Stage 1 Meaningful Use Objectives, Measures, and Corresponding Initial Set of Standards, Implementation Specifications, and Certification Criteria (July 2010)
• AHIMA's Comments: EHR Incentive Program (Meaningful Use) Proposed Rule (March 2010)
• AHIMA Resource: Mapping of Proposed Meaningful Use Measures and to Standards and Certification Criteria Eligible Hospitals (February 2010)
• AHIMA Resource: Mapping of Proposed Meaningful Use Measures to Standards and Certification Criteria for Eligible Professionals (February 2010)
• AHIMA Overview: CMS EHR Incentive Program (Meaningful Use) Proposed Rule (January 2010)
• AHIMA Summary of Proposed Criteria for "Meaningful Use," and EHR Standards and Certification Criteria (January 2010)
• AHIMA Comments on Meaningful Use Proposals and Policies (June 2009)

Eligible Professionals

Hospitals along with the following professionals are eligible for incentive reimbursement for meaningful use of certified EHRs:

• Physicians (Doctor of medicine or osteopathy) - Medicare and Medicaid
• Dentist (Doctor of dental surgery or medicine) - Medicare and Medicaid
• Doctor of podiatric medicine - Medicare Only
• Doctor of optometry - Medicare Only
• Chiropractor - Medicare Only
• Certified nurse-midwives - Medicaid Only
• Nurse Practitioner - Medicaid Only
• Physician assistants who are practicing in Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) or Rural Health Clinics (RHCs) led by a physician assistant - Medicaid Only

  AHIMA's Meaningful Use White Paper Series on the Final Rule 

Links & Resources

• NIST Publishes EHR Study on Workflow
• CMS EHR Incentive Program (Meaningful Use) Website
• ONC Meaningful Use Website
• Health IT Policy Committee
• Health IT Standards Committee
• National Quality Forum (NQF)