I wrote previously about the “Triple Aim” of healthcare and even questioned if doctors really cared about the triple aim. For those not familiar with the triple aim, it includes: improving the health of our country, enabling less expensive care, and increasing patient engagement with their healthcare. All of these are noble goals and worthy of effort. Plus, even if providers aren’t moved by this goal, that doesn’t mean that much of the legislation and regulation that hits healthcare won’t be guided by this triple aim.
I was reading through this Allscripts whitepaper titled “Your EHR Vendor Isn’t Certified: Remove Barriers and Conquer Meaningful Use Stage 2” when I thought about how the triple aim is going to impact an organization’s decisions moving forward whether they like it or not.
The whitepaper underscores the shift towards more patient engagement, smart EHR tools, and population health. I think that generally summarizes meaningful use and is why it’s going to be really important that everyone in healthcare is involved in it.
Even if you don’t want to participate in the meaningful use program specifically, the overall trends that meaningful use represent are likely going to be with us for the foreseeable future. No doubt the government’s focus will continue this direction and I think payers are heading the same direction as well. They probably won’t adopt meaningful use entirely, but elements from it and other programs will likely be adopted by payers.
Check out the full whitepaper for more details on these trends and making sure your EHR is ready for them.
To get the incentive money from the government, your EHR must be 2014 ONC certified irrespective of your meaningful use stage. So as a physician, you must confirm with your EHR vendor to make sure that either they are already certified or in the process for the same otherwise you won’t be able to get the incentive money.