http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23494698

Hastings Cent Rep. 2013 Mar;43(2):15-17. doi: 10.1002/hast.154.

What's So Meaningful about Meaningful Use?

Galbraith KL.

Abstract

The 2009 Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act aims to promote the use of electronic health records by providing over $27 billion in financial incentives for eligible health care providers who become "meaningful users" of them. The goal of increased "meaningful" electronic health record adoption is to create a more efficient, patient-centered health care system by lowering providers' administrative costs, improving coordination of care among multiple providers, and increasing patients' participation in and responsibility for their own care. Recently published data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics indicate that the HITECH Act's passage has led to a significant increase in electronic health record use among physicians. However, everyone involved in the conversations surrounding the HITECH Act-health care analysts, policy-makers, and providers alike-must recognize that "meaningful use" of electronic health records can only be authentically meaningful to both clinicians and patients when certain structural issues are also addressed.