Specialists may have difficulty meeting email thresholds of MU Stage 2

Specialists may have a harder time meeting the patient engagement requirements of Meaningful Use Stage 2, according to a study published in the American Journal of Medical Quality. The researchers examined portal enrollment and use, as well as an anonymous study of patients enrolled in the portal. While 97 percent of the participating physicians in 2013 would have met the requirements for patient downloading of information, only 38 percent would have met Stage 2's email communication requirements; in particular, only 37 percent of specialists would have met the requirement. The researchers speculated that the disparity was due to the fact that specialists provide less chronic care. Study