Meaningful Use (MU) Certification

On June 18, 2010, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released the rule that laid out the process and criteria required for MU electronic health record (EHR) certification.¹ EHRs are certified by an Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology-Authorized Testing and Certification Body (ONC-ATCB). A list of providers is available from the ONC-HIT website.

Meaningful Use (MU) Requirements

There are three components within the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) that specify what an eligible provider must demonstrate for stage 1 MU of an EHR in 2011 and 2012. These are:^2,3

• Use a certified EHR in a meaningful manner (e.g., e-prescribing, computerized provider order entry (CPOE), etc.)
• Use certified EHR technology for electronic exchange of health information to improve quality of care (e.g., transfer hospital records to a clinic or vice versa)
• Use certified EHR technology to submit clinical quality measures (CQM) or other measures determined by the HHS Secretary.

Meaningful Use (MU) Objectives in Ambulatory Care

The HITECH Act sets 15 core objectives for ambulatory care EHR MU that healthcare providers need to meet to qualify for Stage 1 MU financial incentives.⁴ Eligible hospitals have 14 core objectives which will not be discussed here, but which can be accessed from the CMS website [slide 24].⁵ The “core” objectives are defined as a starting point and from the additional menu of 10 MU requirements, five can be selected or deferred for stage 1, but all 10 will ultimately need to be fulfilled once stage 2 MU is finalized.⁶

Dr. David Blumenthal who served as the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology at DHHS from 2009 until April 2011, stated “These core objectives enable EHRs to support improved healthcare.”⁷ The core objectives include basic data entry of patient information inherent to any medical record, as well as software applications that may assist healthcare providers to make better clinical decisions.⁸

The MU Stage 1 health outcome priorities include the following five categories:^9,10

• To improve quality, safety and efficiency and to reduce health disparities
• To engage patients and families in their healthcare
• To improve care coordination
• To improve population and public health
• To ensure adequate privacy and security protections for personal health information

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