HITECH Act Summary
The American Reinvestment & Recovery Act (ARRA) was enacted on February 17, 2009. ARRA includes many measures to modernize our nation's infrastructure, one of which is the "Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act". The HITECH Act supports the concept of electronic health records - meaningful use [EHR-MU], an effort led by Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC).
HITECH Act Funds Allocation
Meaningful Use
Meaningful Use is a CMS Medicare and Medicaid program that awards incentives for using certified electronic health records (EHRs) to improve patient care. To achieve Meaningful Use and avoid penalties, providers must follow a set of criteria that serve as a roadmap for effectively using an EHR.
The American Reinvestment & Recovery Act (ARRA) was enacted on February 17, 2009. ARRA includes many measures to modernize our nation's infrastructure, one of which is the "Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act". The HITECH Act supports the concept of electronic health records - meaningful use [EHR-MU], an effort led by Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC).
- HITECH proposes the meaningful use of interoperable electronic health records throughout the United States health care delivery system as a critical national goal.
- Meaningful Use is defined by the use of certified EHR technology in a meaningful manner. Such as:
HITECH Act Funds Allocation
- $18 billion through the Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement systems as incentives for hospitals and physicians who are “meaningful users” of EHR systems.
- $2 billion to the Office of the National Coordinator for infrastructure necessary to allow for, and promote, the electronic exchange and use of health information for each individual in the United States; updating the Department of Health & Human Services’ technologies to allow for the electronic flow of information; integrating health IT education into the training of healthcare professionals; and, promoting interoperable clinical data repositories.
- $1 billion to be made available for renovation and repair of health centers and for the acquisition of health IT systems.
- $550 million for – among other things – the purchase of equipment and services including, but not limited to, health IT within Indian Health Service facilities.
- $400 million for comparative effectiveness research on how use of electronic data impacts healthcare treatments and strategies.
- $300 million to support regional and sub-national efforts towards health information exchange.
- $40 million to be used by the Social Security Administration to use EHRs to submit disability claims..
Meaningful Use
Meaningful Use is a CMS Medicare and Medicaid program that awards incentives for using certified electronic health records (EHRs) to improve patient care. To achieve Meaningful Use and avoid penalties, providers must follow a set of criteria that serve as a roadmap for effectively using an EHR.
- The Grand Goal: Developing EHRs Across the United States
- First coined by the US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid in 2009 as the Stimulus Bill, which was passed in an attempt to jump-start the American economy, the term, title and description "Meaningful Use" describes a set of rules and objectives to be met during implementing Electronic Health Records (EHRs).
- Meaningful Use Rules include concepts such as improving care coordination, ensuring privacy and security of patients' records, and making sure patients have access to those digital records.
- If providers can show that they have achieved those criteria, they may be partially reimbursed for implementing EHRs.
The concept of meaningful use rested on the '5 pillars' of health outcomes policy priorities, namely:
What the Meaningful Use Rules Require from ProvidersThere is a list of 25 objectives those providers must meet to prove they have achieved meaningful use, and therefore be reimbursed the amounts they can earn. In general, they address the record content to be sure all a patient's information is included. Further, they begin to standardized the information so that an electronic record for one patient contains the same, and the same amount of information as that of another patient.
All 25 objectives speak to one or more of the following:
Over time, the Meaningful Use Rules have been refined in stages, and will probably continue to be refined.
For example, for the objective that insists a patient have access to his EHR, the
- Improving quality, safety, efficiency, and reducing health disparities
- Engage patients and families in their health
- Improve care coordination
- Improve population and public health
- Ensure adequate privacy and security protection for personal health information
What the Meaningful Use Rules Require from ProvidersThere is a list of 25 objectives those providers must meet to prove they have achieved meaningful use, and therefore be reimbursed the amounts they can earn. In general, they address the record content to be sure all a patient's information is included. Further, they begin to standardized the information so that an electronic record for one patient contains the same, and the same amount of information as that of another patient.
All 25 objectives speak to one or more of the following:
- Improving quality, safety, and efficiency
- Improving care coordination
- Ensuring Privacy and Security
- Improving Public and Population Health
- Engaging Patients and Families
Over time, the Meaningful Use Rules have been refined in stages, and will probably continue to be refined.
For example, for the objective that insists a patient have access to his EHR, the
- Stage 1 rule- Specified that more than 50 percent of all patients who request an electronic copy of their health information had to be provided with it within 3 business days.
- Stage 2 requirement, announced in August 2012, steps that up to require the inclusion of doctors' notes, imaging and results, family history, and other aspects of patients' care in certain percentages of their records.
HTM 552 EHR Meaningful Use
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