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Meaningful Use

 

Meaningful Use is defined as the use of certified electronic health record technologies in a manner that moves a provider towards or achieves the goals of improving health care quality, efficiency and patient safety. A provider can demonstrate this by adopting and using technologies that meet the criteria, standards and capabilities established in the meaningful use rule. The meaningful use criteria, standards and capabilities will evolve in stages over time to continue to advance the state of HIT.

Specifically for Medicare and Medicaid use common definitions of meaningful use are:

  • Use certified EHR technology to track, record and exchange information including:
    • Use CPOE and ePrescribing
    • Record demographics and vital signs
    • Maintain up-to-date problem lists
    • Check insurance eligibility and submit claims
    • Have capability to exchange key clinical information
    • Have certain technical privacy and security capabilities
  • Capture and submit specific clinical quality measures
  • Can provider patients an electronic copy of their health information

Meaningful Use criteria are divided into stages; each subsequent stage requires more capabilities.

Meaning Use criteria stages