Meaningful Use in Healthcare: Facility Guide and FAQ
As a healthcare facility leader, you understand the importance of staying up-to-date on the latest healthcare technology. Adopting and implementing an electronic health record (EHR) system improves patient care and prevents medical errors from occurring — but there are also financial incentives to utilizing updated technology.
Meaningful use in healthcare is an incentive program established to encourage healthcare providers to use EHR systems to their full potential. What is meaningful use and why is it important? In this article, we introduce the concept of meaningful use and explain how the program benefits healthcare facilities and patients.
What Is Meaningful Use in Healthcare?
The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act was established in 2009 as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The program incentivizes healthcare providers to adopt and utilize health information technology. This concept, known as meaningful use, includes financial incentives for healthcare providers who adequately utilize EHRs — and penalties for those who don’t.
Regulated by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Meaningful Use is one of CMS’s four incentive programs aiming to reduce costs while improving safety and quality in healthcare. These programs reward healthcare providers for demonstrating compliance with federal programs, including:
- Medicare Electronic Prescribing (eRx) Incentive Program
- Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS)
- Electronic Health Records Incentive Program/Meaningful Use
- Physician Value-Based Payment Modifier (Value Modifier)
To qualify for the Meaningful Use/EHR incentive program, healthcare providers must prove they meet compliance criteria established by CMS, which may be verified through performance audits. Failure to meet all of the requirements at each step of the program results in penalties.
What Are the Goals of Meaningful Use?
The Meaningful Use program encourages eligible healthcare professionals and facilities, such as hospitals and critical access facilities, to incorporate and demonstrate the utilization of EHR technology. In 2018, Meaningful Use was renamed Promoting Interoperability Programs, and in 2022 it was changed to Medicare Promoting Interoperability Program. The goals of the program remain the same, which are to help healthcare institutions:
- Enhance quality of care.
- Improve patient safety and health outcomes.
- Streamline care delivery and provider communication.
The latest changes prompted a focus on interoperability and improved patient access to health information. They allow healthcare institutions to improve healthcare quality while aligning with broader healthcare initiatives.
How Does the Meaningful Use Program Protect Patient Privacy?
As electronic protected health information (ePHI) becomes more accessible, the risk of security breaches increases. The meaningful use program addresses privacy and security concerns by including provisions that strengthen the enforcement of HIPAA rules.
It also addresses business associates and subcontractors at healthcare facilities, who were more likely to avoid HIPAA rules prior to the act. Regulations in the HITECH Act and Meaningful Use specifically call out third parties as liable for HIPAA violations such as ePHI breaches under their watch.
What Are the Three Stages of Meaningful Use?
The Meaningful Use program is outlined in three stages, each with its own set of objectives and measures that healthcare providers must meet to qualify for incentive programs. CMS provides guidelines for reporting methods and timeframes, core objectives, and clinical quality measures needed to meet program goals. The three stages of meaningful use in healthcare are outlined in the following table.
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| Stage | Description |
| 1. Data capturing and sharing | This stage focuses on the basic adoption of EHRs and includes requirements such as recording patient demographics, maintaining active medication lists, recording smoking status, and documenting vital signs. Providers must meet objectives from a list of specific criteria. |
| 2. Advanced clinical processes | More advanced requirements were introduced, including the use of computerized physician order entry (CPOE), electronic transmission of patient care summaries, and secure messaging for patient-provider communication. This stage also seeks to improve the patient experience by emphasizing patient engagement and care coordination. |
| 3. Improved outcomes | This stage further advanced the use of EHRs by emphasizing improved outcomes, enhanced patient engagement, and interoperability between healthcare systems. It includes requirements such as clinical decision support, allowing patients to access their health information online, and demonstrating enhanced data exchange. |
What Are Some Practical Examples of Meaningful Use?
When participating in CMS EHR incentive programs, healthcare providers agree to use certified EHR technology to improve the quality and safety of patient care. There are three main components in the meaningful use program, which state that:
- Healthcare providers must use EHRs in a purposeful way, such as electronically prescribing medications.
- Providers must use certified EHR technology to store structured patient data and safely exchange protected health information electronically.
- EHR technology will be used when submitting clinical quality measures, such as to federal reporting systems.
The program encourages healthcare providers to use EHRs to their full potential, as updated technology integrates safety features that improve patient safety and reduce the risk of harm. Meaningful use example safety benefits include:
- Improved accessibility of medical records during transfers of care.
- Pop-ups in the electronic medication administration record (MAR) system, such as high-risk medication alerts, drug-drug interactions, or allergy warnings.
- Condition-specific order sets.
- Clinical decision support and diagnostic support.
- Documentation templates.
- E-prescribing or refill automation.
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Legal Disclaimer: This article contains general legal information, but it is not intended to constitute professional legal advice for any particular situation and should not be relied on as professional legal advice. Any references to the law may not be current, as laws regularly change through updates in legislation, regulation, and case law at the federal and state level. Nothing in this article should be interpreted as creating an attorney-client relationship. If you have legal questions, you should seek the advice of an attorney licensed to practice in your jurisdiction.