Just Published: “Meaningful Use” Regulation for Electronic Health Records

by Holly Hayes

The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) published on July 13, a summary of the final regulations on “meaningful use” of electronic health records (EHR). The full, final regulation is 864 pages and can be found here.

The regulation divides the elements required for “meaningful use” into two groups: first, a set of core objectives that are an essential starting point for meaningful use of EHRs and, second, a menu of additional activities from which providers must choose several to implement in the first 2 years (2011 and 2012).

One of the people who has impacted the implementation of EHRs and helped communicate why access to health data matters to ordinary people is Regina Holliday. She tells the story of her fight to obtain access to her husband’s health record during his battle with cancer on her blog, Regina Holliday’s Medical Advocacy Blog. Her compelling, and often heartbreaking, story can be read here.

The government has committed unprecedented resources to support the adoption and use of EHRs including incentive payments totaling up to $27 billion over 10 years, or as much as $44,000 (through Medicare) and $63,750 (through Medicaid) per clinician. This funding ties payments to not only adoption of but “meaningful use” of EHRs. Providers must use the technology to create a nationwide system of EHRs that significantly advance health care processes and outcomes.

We welcome your comments about the final regulations and implementation of “meaningful use” of ERHs.

Holly Hayes is a mediator at Karl Bayer, Dispute Resolution Expert where she focuses on mediation of health care disputes. Holly holds a B.A. from Southern Methodist University and a Masters in Health Administration from Duke University. She can be reached at: holly@karlbayer.com.