Meaningful use is like 'fire, ready, aim" in absence of HHS guidance

This may be the best characterization we've heard of the current HHS strategy for providers to achieve meaningful use of health IT and thus qualify for federal EMR subsidy payments: "It's a bit like, 'Fire, ready, aim,'" explains Brian Baker, senior VP of Regents Health Resources, a Brentwood, Tenn.-based consulting firm, according to AuntMinnie.com.

Baker, speaking at this month's American Healthcare Radiology Administrators (AHRA) annual conference in Washington, D.C., said that hospitals and physicians need to keep moving forward with EMR implementation plans, even as HHS develops much-needed guidance for meeting the standards for meaningful use. "These meaningful use guidelines are a mixed bag," Baker is quoted as saying. "Their implementation is great news and bad news, all at the same time."

Baker recommended that providers register as soon as possible with the CMS EHR Incentive Programs website and waste no time evaluating current HIT capabilities and resources.

One glaring problem is that providers are required to use "certified" EMR systems, but CMS and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology won't have a permanent certification program in place until 2012. A temporary certification process is intended to fill that void, but, to date, there are no entities authorized to certify EMRs as capable of meeting meaningful use. Likewise, Baker noted, there is no standard method for creating a master patient index or common patient ID--and certainly no agreed-upon way of protecting the privacy data related to such an identifier.

"Think about the development of cell phone technology," Baker said. "Years ago, there were only analog systems, and when you went from one area to another, the providers had disparate protocols that didn't communicate. Now there are electronic serial numbers for every device, and all of us can go anywhere and the service is seamless. We need something like that for identifying patients. But it also needs to be secure."

To learn more:
- read this AuntMinnie.com story (reg. req.)

Related Articles:
Criticisms of final 'meaningful use' rule start to emerge
'Most Wired' hospitals consider meaningful use a roadmap, not a destination

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