Meaningful Use is part of the EHR requirements targeted for completion in 2014. Meaningful Use was created in order to capture the right data to improve patient outcomes.
With this in mind, how can you as a nurse ensure that Meaningful Use is being implemented into the EHR? If you were the nurse manager, how would you implement this documentation and ensure buy-in by your staff?
Meaningful Use:
What is meaningful use (MU)? Is this a term with which you are familiar? Ask your nurse leader or anyone responsible for reimbursement at your place of employment and a lively discussion is likely to result.
In 2004, President Bush established an initiative to mandate the establishment of electronic health records (EHR) for all U.S. citizens over the next 10 years (Hebda & Czar, 2013). As healthcare providers and agencies scrambled to meet the mandate to avoid penalties from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS), incentive funding became available. However, attached to that funding was a stipulation of MU.
The HITECH Act is part of the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act enacted during President Obama’s administration. This legislation created programs under the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Systems (CMS) for incentives to those agencies demonstrating meaningful use of technology (https://www.cdc.gov/ehrmeaningfuluse/introduction.html). Will meaningful use of technology and EHRs for every American improve healthcare quality, reduce healthcare costs, and improve patient and nurse safety? Time will tell.