EMR Software Certification, HITECH Meaningful Use

There is more to Electronic Medical Records than use of scanned images. The meaningful use of EMR software helps providers, facilities be HIPAA--compliant and eligible for Stimulus Bill Incentives.

HIPAA Privacy, Security Settings & EMR -- the government is sensitive to issues regarding the unregulated access to PHI. This has led to stringent clauses regarding the recording and sharing of PHI being introduced as a part of HIPAA regulations. The HIPAA Privacy Rule is also called Standards for Privacy of Individually Identifiable Health Information which sets national--level standards for the protection of health information. All professionals and establishments covered under the Privacy Rule (called covered entities) need to abide by these regulations or they are subject to heavy financial penalties. This is where the utility of EMR comes forth. Certified EMR softwares need to fulfill the Privacy Rule requirements and meet the meaningful use benchmarks that have been set as a part of the Stimulus Bill (ARRA). Thus, upgrading your facility to the use of certified EMRs underlines your ability to maintain the sanctity of a patient's personal information and makes you eligible for incentives listed under the Stimulus Bill -- Check out Understanding Stimulus Bill Incentives for EHR Adoption on http://www.edocscan.com/stimulus-bill-incentives-ehr-adoption

What is Meaningful Use?

There are still no exact standards to the term "meaningful use". The term indicates that the government wishes to stress upon the importance of using EMR in a meaningful manner with the goal to improve the quality of patient health care and making it more affordable. However, some basic criteria constitute meaningful use of an adopted Electronic Medical Record system.

The EMR system should be:
• Certified and used for documentation (record-keeping) of patient care and for e-prescribing
• Used in a format wherein it forms a part of electronic health information exchange system that can be used when PHI needs to be shared among providers
• Capable of submitting information regarding qualitative measures needed to maintain the integrity of EHR functions