The Health IT Policy Committee's Meaningful Use workgroup is planning on recommending seven new objectives for Stage 3 of the Meaningful Use program.
At its latest meeting Feb. 11, the work group released its draft recommendations for objectives, acknowledging that interoperability was a "top priority" and that four areas of emphasis were clinical decision support, patient engagement, care coordination and population management.
The seven new objectives are as follows:
- The electronic health record is able to assist with follow up orders; results of specialty consult requests are returned to the ordering provider
- Providers will record Food and Drug Administration unique device identifier when patients have a device implanted
- The EHR has the ability to access medication fill information from pharmacy benefit managers and access prescription drug monitoring program data in a streamlined way
- Providers provide patients with an easy way to request amendments to their records online
- Providers can receive provider requested electronically submitted patient generated information
- Eligible hospitals and critical access hospitals can send electronic notifications to members of a patient's care team
- The EHR is capable of using external knowledge to prompt an end users when criteria are met for case reporting
The workgroup also intends to recommend several changes to some of the current Stage 2 Meaningful Use requirements, such as capturing more demographics. A few of the Stage 2 objectives would not change in Stage 3, such as syndromic surveillance and electronic lab reporting.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has proposed delaying the implementation of Stage 3 of the Meaningful Use program. The proposed legislation repealing the Sustainable Growth Rate formula proposes making sweeping changes to the Meaningful Use program itself.
To learn more:
- view the workgroup's presentation (.ppt)