"Meaningful Use" Might Become More Meaningful

I continue to be pleasantly surprised by the evolution of federal efforts to make “Meaningful Use” meaningful. In general, the teams at HHS’s Office of the National Coordinator for Health information Technology (ONC or ONCHIT) are really doing a good job with the mess of an ARRA Stimulus Bill handed to them by Congress. Their effort to shift an industry-centric view of health information technology to one that is more patient-centric is most interesting.
This week, one of the key committees making recommendations to the ONC has suggested some relaxations of “Meaningful Use” requirements that are insightful if their intent is to promote EMR adoption in most practices.

Policy Panel Endorses Relaxation of 'Meaningful Use' Requirements

Panel recommends making meaningful use requirements more flexible

The Health IT Policy Committee on Wednesday recommended that federal officials ease up the meaningful use requirements, allowing providers to defer some of them and still earn bonuses under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

IMHO, this move to require practices to meet only 80% of the requirements, rather than 100% reflects a better understanding of what it actually takes to promote adoption. If this change to 80% is adopted, it will dramatically increase the number of medical practices that will consider upgrades of their information management systems. This more measured approach is in stark contrast to other certification initiatives in this industry that require all or none.