Meaningful Use

On his first day on the job as chief of the country's Medicare and Medicaid programs, Harvard Medical School Professor Donald Berwick, MD, touted the value of electronic health records. On Wednesday, House and Senate Republicans clamored for their leaders to summon Berwick to the Hill for hearings on his nomination.

While most vendors are satisfied with the provisions announced on Tuesday in the final rule for meaningful use, meeting certification requirements could prove demanding for some.

Healthcare CIOs received the final rule on meaningful use July 13 mostly with a sigh of relief. They felt their concerns had been taken into account, they said, and they especially appreciated the rule's greater flexibility.

Powerful forces are driving many practices toward EHRs, especially now that incentives for EHR use are more clearly defined within ARRA. First-time buyers, in particular, cannot afford to enter such high-stakes negotiations only half-informed.

Federal officials released the long-awaited final rule on meaningful use Tuesday, with Wednesday morning showing most major organizations still wading through the more than 800 pages of regulations for an in-depth reaction. Initial response seemed to be cautiously optimistic, but the American Hospital Association expressed concerns.

The Dept. of Health and Human Services obviously listened to the resounding criticism that the proposed meaningful use criteria were asking for too much, too soon or all or nothing.

The most well-known patient privacy advocate voiced her support for the Dept. of Health and Human Services' new patient privacy policy.

Federal officials have announced they will release the long-awaited final rule on meaningful use Tuesday morning.

University of Missouri researchers are developing an EHR that will encompass the needs of older patients, the numbers of which are growing exponentially as more and more Baby Boomers continue to age.

While Congress was in recess, President Obama appointed Donald Berwick, MD, to lead the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, which has been without an administrator since 2006. Let's forget the usual politics for a moment and focus on the impact this appointment will make on health IT adoption.