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Hospital Meaningful Use

Meaningful Use Standards

To achieve quality care, efficiency and patient safety, meaningful use standards must be met in order to receive incentives. These criteria ensure your EHR system is fully operational and workflow is developed effectively. You do not need to meet meaningful use requirements in the first year of the program if you are adopting, implementing or upgrading your EHR system.

Adopt, Implement, Upgrade (AIU)

As a hospital you do not need to meet meaningful use reporting requirements the first year. Rather, you will attest to the adoption, implementation or upgrade (AIU) of certified EHR technology.
 
  • Adopt: Acquire, purchase, or secure access to certified EHR technology
  • Implement: Install or commence utilization of certified EHR technology capable of meeting meaningful use requirements
  • Upgrade: Expand the available functionality of certified EHR technology capable of meeting meaningful use requirements at the practice site, including staffing, maintenance, and training, or upgrade from existing EHR technology to certified EHR technology per the ONC EHR certification criteria

Meaningful Use Implementation

In a given payment year, Hospitals attesting for both Medicare and Medicaid, known as “dual-eligible”, will demonstrate and be “deemed” a meaningful EHR user through Medicare. Hospitals that are “deemed” for the payment year will still need to apply for an Oregon Medicaid EHR Incentive payment but will not report meaningful use to Oregon in the application process. Hospitals that are not “dual-eligible”, namely children’s hospitals, will report and demonstrate meaningful use when they apply for an Oregon Medicaid EHR Incentive Payment.
 
STAGE 1 - Oregon is accepting attestations for Stage 1 meaningful use. The criteria for meaningful use will be staged in three steps over the coming years. Stage 1 sets the baseline for electronic data capture and information sharing. The new stage 2 rule released by CMS in 2012 modified some of the stage 1 criteria for program years 2013 and later. View Stage 1 objectives and measures from the CMS website.
 
STAGE 2 - In 2014, providers and hospitals that have already attested to Stage 1 meaningful use for two years will be in Stage 2. Stage 2 advances to greater focus on data exchange. There are new certification standards that apply in 2014 as well as new meaningful use criteria. New specification sheets and the Stage 2 rule are available at the CMS EHR Incentive Program website.
 
STAGE 3 - Stage 3 (expected to be implemented in 2016 through future rule-making) will focus on advanced clinical process and improved outcomes.

Meaningful Use Resources

 
Public health meaningful use
Visit Oregon’s public health website for guidance on the methods to submit electronic health information to meet the Public Health Meaningful use measures
 
CMS Meaningful Use Calculator
CMS offers an online tool that allows hospitals to test whether or not they would successfully demonstrate meaningful use for the EHR Incentive programs.
 
Specification Sheets for Eligible Hospitals
The Meaningful Use Objectives specification sheets for the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs bring together detailed information on each objective to help eligible hospitals understand what they need to do to demonstrate meaningful use successfully.