Defining “meaningful use”
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), provides significant incentive for adoption and "meaningful" use of certified electronic health record (EHR) technology by hospitals and physicians. The bill defers to Health and Human Services (HHS) to set specific guidelines for determining what constitutes “meaningful use”; however, it does currently specify that e‐prescribing, electronic exchange of medical records, and interoperability of systems will be some of the determining criteria for compliance.
A significant amount on funding is at stake and the time to start compliance efforts is now.
To prepare for this crucial undertaking, providers must determine how they will prove compliance and are asking these questions.
- What can I do now to prepare for and demonstrate “meaningful use” compliance by 2010?
- Are there things I can change in my current environment to move toward compliance?
- I share some information across boundaries today. Is that considered compliant?
There are no simple answers, but basic preparations will start the organization down the path of successful e‐prescribing, electronic exchange of medical records, and interoperability of systems. One common framework for all of these initiatives includes an effective patient registry.
Patient registry as a foundation for “meaningful use”
There are many pseudonyms for a patient registry – enterprise master person index (EMPI) and record locator service (RLS) are two examples – but the basic functionality stays consistent and is a proven catalyst for successful information exchange.
A patient registry allows healthcare systems to connect, share and securely use patient data within and across organizational boundaries.
Canada Health Infoway, United States regional health information exchanges and many leading integrated delivery networks (IDNs) use a patient registry as a foundation to enable effective information exchange, to improve quality of care, reduce the cost of care delivery and provide patient-centered care.
Patient registry will transform business processes and enable organizations to accurately identify and link patient records across disparate systems such as EHR, personal health records (PHR), imaging and labs, among others to enable the following:
- Extend registration and information sharing between in-patient and out-patient systems to create a system-wide view of the patient
- Create a patient-centric view of allergies, medications, problems and test results accessible from an ambulatory EHR, portals and other departmental applications
- Relate providers to patients to understand and communicate across the extended care team and track quality performance
- Relate demographics to diseases, treatments and outcomes to understand outcomes and develop best practices
No matter the path you take to prove compliance by 2010, a patient registry delivers value.
Initiate® – a proven and trusted partner
Initiate Systems is the acknowledged leader in the interoperable exchange of health information. No organization has more experience implementing patient registries. Initiate’s patient registry solution or EMPI is installed at more than 180 customers worldwide, touching 80% of the population of the U.S. and Canada, and is already in use for e-prescribing, electronic exchange of medical records and interoperability.
- e‐prescribing experience – Initiate software is the backbone of the largest e-prescribing network in the U.S., and connects patient records at several of the largest retail pharmacies, including Walgreens and CVS/Caremark.
- Electronic exchange of medical records experience – Initiate software is used as part of the foundation for interoperability by 76 IDNs and 40 health information exchanges to connect data from disparate systems for clinical information sharing, patient registration and access, and results sharing.
- Interoperability experience – Initiate is the enterprise master person index or client registry in eight Canadian provinces, supporting the pan‐Canadian electronic health record. Further, Initiate was chosen as the patient registry for a component of the Nationwide Health Information Network (NHIN II) and all four of the NHIN I demonstrations funded by the Office of National Coordinator (ONC).
In addition, Initiate is recognized as the leader in improving the efficiency of claims processing at four of the 10 largest payer organizations, as well as four regional Blue plans.
With Initiate® Interoperable Health at the foundation, healthcare organizations can make more meaningful use of their data and support the objectives of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
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