Paper Example on Definition of Meaningful Use of HIT

Introduction

Healthcare Information Technology (HIT) refers to the information technology used to store, retrieve, and share health records to assist in decision-making (Alotaibi, & Federico, 2017). Health information technology ranges from the simple use of charts to advanced integration of technology with medical care. The application of HIT provides various advantages through which healthcare can be transformed. These advantages include minimizing human errors, better medical results, increasing efficiency, and facilitating data tracking (Alotaibi, & Federico, 2017). IOM published an article that discussed the future of nursing. The 2011 publication highly encouraged Health Information Technology in the medical and nursing field (Alotaibi, & Federico, 2017). Examples of HIT technologies include; Computerized Physician Order Entry (COPE), digital signing out/ hands-off tools, and Automated Medical Dispensing, amongst others (Alotaibi, & Federico, 2017). Meaningful use refers to the standard set in the application of certified health information technology. Meaningful use was the brainchild of the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

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Three Stages Developed by CMS

The meaningful use prioritized five key areas, which included improving the quality of health and lowering inequalities. Enable patients and their loved ones to make choices concerning their health, enhance the process of caring for patients, improve the health of the public, and ensure the privacy of individuals’ health information (Anumula, & Sanelli, 2012). For a health professional, hospital, and children and adolescents health centers to be eligible for the CMS and EHR Incentive Programs, they had to show that it had put in structures that facilitated purposeful digital health utilization records (Emani et al., 2017). The EHR Incentive Program has since been rebranded to Promoting Interoperability Programs (Anumula, & Sanelli, 2012). The program of meaningful use is divided into three stages.

Stage 1

This stage describes data capture and sharing, and it came into effect between the years of 2011 and 2012 (Anumula, & Sanelli, 2012). Step one outlines the requirements needed to obtain an individual’s health records. Health officials also expect that health facilities or medical personnel give patients a copy of the medical records (Emani et al., 2017). Meaningful Use Attestation Audits are being conducted to determine these health centers’ eligibility or professional decision qualification for EHR incentive payments.

Stage 2

Stage two concentrates on advanced clinical processes. It was enforced in 2014. This stage describes the clinical procedures necessary for achieving the objectives in step one. This stage emphasizes the maximum utilization of Certified Electronic Health Records Technology (CEHRT) to make progress in medical care as well as create structures for the exchange of medical records (Anumula, & Sanelli, 2012).

Stage 3

This highly ambitious stage came into existence in October 2015. Stage three talks about improved health outcomes. This stage focused on using technology in health facilities to improve health results (Anumula, & Sanelli, 2012). This stage also made adjustments to stage two to ease reporting information and create objectives for the meaningful use that mirrored the other CMS programs (Emani et al., 2017). Failure to follow the CMS rules could lead to penalties (Alotaibi, & Federico, 2017). Assessments are done periodically to ensure adherence to these procedures.

References

Alotaibi, Y. K., & Federico, F. (2017). The impact of health information technology on patient safety. Saudi medical journal, 38(12), 1173. doi: 10.15537/smj.2017.12.20631

Anumula, N., & Sanelli, P. C. (2012). Meaningful use. American Journal Of Neuroradiology, 33(8), 1455-1457. doi: https://doi.org/10.3174/ajnr.A3247

Emani, S., Ting, D. Y., Healey, M., Lipsitz, S. R., Karson, A. S., Einbinder, J. S., ... & Bates, D. W. (2014, August 27). Physician beliefs about the impact of meaningful use of the EHR: a cross-sectional study. Applied Clinical Informatics, 5(3), 789. doi: 10.4338/ACI-2014-05-RA-0050