What is meaningful use?

Let’s dive right into what is meaningful use and what is its intent. Briefly, for a medical institution to receive incentive payments, they must prove meaningful use. Thus, the target is to prove to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services EHR incentive programs that you’re eligible. So, meaningful use of an electronic health record (EHR) fixes the objectives hospitals and health providers must reach. This is to get EHR Incentive Programs benefits.

Altogether, there are three stages for meaningful use for surgery centers or in general objectives:

1: Data capture and sharing

2: Advanced clinical processes

3: Improved outcomes

Meaningful use definition

We can go deeper with what is meaningful use and what is its intent. In other words, when we speak health IT, it defines US standards for EHRs. What is meaningful use and why is it important? Firstly, it outlines healthcare providers exchange medical patient data. Of course, the meaningful use program is a positive effort to support EHRs. But, it was really unpopular among providers having to meet the requirements. Plus, the purpose of these standards was to expand the interaction between public and clinical healthcare. Also, it aimed at improving preventative care focused on patients. While supporting the continuous progress of standardized and strong data exchange.

The three stages of meaningful use

Three stages compose what is meaningful use and what is its intent. In fact, CMS and ONC created these to measure it. Plus, these set the meaningful use of EHR and its criteria.

First off, what is stage 1 of meaningful use?

Naturally, it focuses on and promotes the implementation of certified EHR technologies. Initially, this stage set the requirements for the digital capture of data. As well, it gave patients access to electronic forms of their proper health data.

Secondly, what is stage 2?

Obviously, it encourages the meaningful use of CEHRT. You can say it is an expansion of the stage 1 criteria. Stage 2 emphasized the exchange of patient data and care coordination. Plus, it boosts the limits of criteria compliance. Besides, it offers more clinical decision support, patient engagement rules, and care coordination requirements.

Thirdly, what is stage 3? Finally, stage 3 focuses on improving health outcomes through:

• Clinical data registry and reporting cases
• Exchange of health information
• Coordination of care due to patient engagement
• Patient-provider access
• Computerized provider order entry
• Medical decision support
• E-prescriptions
• Implementation of protected health data

What is one of the base requirements for meaningful use or some?

Now that you know everything about meaningful use, here are the requirements. Basically, there are five main objectives for it based on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:

• Support adequate security and privacy protection for personal health data
• Improving patient engagement
• Expansion of public and population health
• Enhancing care coordination
• Boosting safety, quality, and efficiency while reducing health disparities

If you’re asking what is one of the base requirements for meaningful use, the answer is:

Promoting CEHRT. Kindly, keep in mind that the criteria are technically voluntary. Thus, its criteria are more like guidelines than regulations. Yet if you fail to go by its results, you might receive penalties related to reimbursement.

What is data converted into a meaningful and useful context?

By definition, we call it information when we convert data into meaningful and useful context. At first, et’s go back in history to learn about meaningful use origins. Now, the HITECH (Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health) Act of 2009 helps with the acceptance of meaningful use.

It addresses the security and privacy matters related to exchanging health information digitally. By 2014, your organization must reach stage 1 to get incentive payments. The establishment of deadlines and extensions to stages 2 and 3 happened too. Meanwhile, CMS built the Medicare and Medicaid EHR incentive programs. The target is to promote the implementation of meaningful use.

Starting 2019, all hospitals under Medicare and Medicaid EHR incentive programs have to use the 2015 Edition of CEHRT.

What are the benefits of meaningful use?

Let’s clarify the benefits:

• Precise and complete information: as a caregiver, you need to access the information quickly. So, you can diagnose the problems and offer the best care.
• Enhanced coordination of care: with meaningful use, you can share information instantly. This applies to physician offices, health systems, and hospitals which gives better coordination.
• Patient engagement: patients’ activity is stronger in their health matters when they receive information electronically.
• Better patient safety: the reduction of medical errors probability is obvious with instant access to information.
• Healthier patient communities and populations: on a local, regional, and national level, important data about medical issues and outcomes are out there.

In the end, meaningful use is good news both for patients and providers. It is here to offer smooth and accurate data sharing with safety. And now optimize medicare payments with meaningful use!