Meaningful Use Essay

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Meaningful Use Implications and Recommendations Meaningful Use Implications and Recommendations Quality of care improves every day through the advancement of electronic medical records (EMRs). To encourage the use of EMRs and increase patient safety, Medicare and Medicaid offer incentives to eligible professionals, hospitals, and critical access hospitals that act in accordance with meaningful use criteria. Based on the level of meaningful use reached, The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) makes it suitable to receive incentives (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2012). Following is an overview of meaningful use, an analysis, and meaningful use recommendations. Overview of Meaningful Use Managing and documenting through health information technology (HIT) and electronic hospital records (EHRs) allow improvement in the quality of care that we provide each patient. The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH) devoted millions of dollars and formed financial incentives as part of their support for adapting EHRs and the meaningful use of EHRs. There are two concepts that are used when trying to define meaningful use. “The concept of meaningful use rested on the '5 pillars' of health outcomes policy priorities, namely: 1) improving quality, safety, efficiency, and reducing health disparities, 2) engage patients and families in their health, 3) improve care coordination, 4) improve public health and population, and 5) ensure adequate privacy and security protection for personal health information” (Meaningful Use, 2012, para 2). “Ultimately, it is hoped that the meaningful use compliance will result in: better clinical outcomes, improved population health outcomes, increased transparency and efficiency, empowered individuals, and more robust research data on health systems” (Meaningful Use Definition, n.d., para 1). The

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