Meaningful Uses for Nurses - 1 RUNNING HEAD MEANINGFUL USE...

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RUNNING HEAD: MEANINGFUL USE
Meaningful Uses for Nurses: Implications and Recommendations
Chloe Carson
Chamberlain College of Nursing
NR 512: Fundamentals of Nursing Informatics
January 2016

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Introduction
The use of Electronic Health Record (EHR) was established within the United States for
over a decade ago. Martelle et al. (2015) states, “The objectives of EHR adoption include
improvements in continuity of care, evidence-based practice, and reduction of errors, and have
been promoted through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Medicaid and
Medicare EHR Incentive Program, also known as meaningful use (MU). This paper will define
the term “Meaningful Use”, provide an overview of the program, analyze it, and recommend
additional criteria for program usage.
Overview of Meaningful Use
In 2009, several acts of legislation were enacted after the global economic recession of
2007-2008. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 was a stimulus
package to mostly create jobs, but also incorporated accountability and transparency of
government spending. With this new regulation on government spending, reform to healthcare
and Health Information Technology (HIT) was enforced. Two of the three major changes to
health-care practices were financial incentives for Medicaid and Medicare adoption by providers
and hospitals and reform of health information privacy practices (Burke, 2010, p. 141). These
incentives were given if the providers and/or hospitals were “meaningful users” of Electronic
Health Records (EHR) of patients.
The term “Meaningful Use” is defined by Gabraith (2013) as:
The Department of Health and Human Services, through the Centers for Medicare and
Medicaid Services, defines meaningful use as “using certified electronic health record
(EHR) technology to: improve quality, safety, efficiency, and reduce health disparities;

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engage patients and families; improve care coordination, and population and public
health; and maintain privacy and security of patient health information.
Although this is a broad definition, the main goal of the program is improve patient
outcomes ultimately. The program consists of three stages that hospitals or providers must
achieve in order to be eligible for the funds that Health Information Technology for Economic
and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act grants. In order to become eligible for the incentives, the
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) judge the use of EHR’s based off of the core
objectives for the stage. Shea et al. (2014) provides examples of some of the core objectives as,
“documenting vital signs and problems, ordering lab tests and medications, and providing visit
summaries and educational materials to patients.