PURPOSE The study evaluates how providers give patient education materials and identifies improvements to comply with Meaningful Use (MU) requirements. METHODS Thirty-eight patient-provider interactions in two health care outpatient clinics were observed. RESULTS Providers do not uniformly know MU patient education requirements. Providers have individual preferences and find gaps in what is...

This final rule establishes a temporary certification program for the purposes of testing and certifying health information technology. This final rule is established under the authority granted to the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (the National Coordinator) by section 3001(c)(5) of the Public Health Service Act (PHSA), as added by the Health Information Technology for ...

BACKGROUND A core measure of the meaningful use of EHR incentive program is the generation and provision of the clinical summary of the office visit, or the after visit summary (AVS), to patients. However, little research has been conducted on physician perceptions and beliefs about the AVS. OBJECTIVES Evaluate physician perceptions and beliefs about the AVS and the effect of the AVS on workl...

The purpose of this study was to assess EHR Incentive Program attestations of eligible US hospitals across geography and hospital type. The proportions of attestations were compared between metropolitan, micropolitan, and rural hospitals and by whether a hospital was critical access or prospective payment system. From 2011 until December 2013, rural and critical access hospitals were attesting ...

For the past three years, many physicians and other eligible professionals have worked to comply with Stage 1 of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS’s) electronic health records (EHR) meaningful use program. Beginning in 2014, those professionals who have completed two years of Stage 1 (or three years if they were an early demonstrator of meaningful use in 2011) must begin on Sta...

Well-designed electronic health records (EHRs) must integrate a variety of accurate information to support efforts to improve quality of care, particularly equity-in-care initiatives. This case study provides insight into the challenges those initiatives may face in collecting accurate race, ethnicity, and language (REAL) information in the EHR. We present the experience of an academic medical ...

Steven E. Waldren, MD, and Erin Solis The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology on Oct. 6, 2015, released a final rule governing the electronic health records (EHR) meaningful use (MU) program through 2018. The timing of the rule’s release was challenging as it gave practices fewer than 90 days to make adjustm...

Background: Given relatively less favorable health outcomes in rural Alabama, electronic health records (EHRs) have an even greater potential to improve quality and alleviate disparities if meaningfully used. Objectives: We examined rural-urban differences as it pertained to perceived barriers, benefits, and motivating factors of EHR implementation. Methods: We used multivariate logistic models...

OBJECTIVES To evaluate user satisfaction among practices receiving services provided by the Arizona Regional Extension Center (REC). METHODS This program evaluation utilized a mixed-methods approach including: 1) a mail-based survey targeting all 489 REC member practices; and 2) a series of telephone-based focus groups using a convenience sample of rural and urban REC member practices. Target...

BACKGROUND Retrospective research requires longitudinal data, and repositories derived from electronic health records (EHR) can be sources of such data. With Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act meaningful use provisions, many institutions are expected to adopt EHRs, but may be left with large amounts of financial and historical clinical data, which can di...