Health It

The topic of Information Technology is a very broad topic. I am going to focus on ARRA and what is involved in this plan.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) was signed into law in 2009 by President Obama. This act authorizes more than $19 billion dollars for Healthcare information technology. While this is pushing the implementation of electronic health records, there still is a lot of skepticism and concern from many physicians.

There are four requirements for this plan. They include: Certified EHR, Information Exchange, Meaningful Use, and Reporting on clinical quality measures.

Certified EHR: It is believed that the CCHIT with be the certification method of choice. Applications will adhere to one of three different models and the certifications will vary in requirements.

Information Exchange: There has been a significant emphasis on data exchange in the certification process. The purpose is to reduce healthcare costs and medical errors by promoting care coordination. What this means, is that for any services provided to a patient that would like their data to be shared across a community-based or National HIE, this information must be available to other participating health organizations with the appropriate access. This would include the Social Security Administration, CMS and other federal or state entities.

Meaningful Use: Meaningful use is using the certified EHR technology to do a variety of things including: improve quality, safety, efficiency, and reduce health disparities; engage patients and family; maintain privacy and security of patient health information; and improve care coordination, and population of public health. Ultimately, it is hoped that compliance will result in better clinical outcomes; improved population health outcomes; increased transparency and efficiency; empowered individuals; and more complete research data on health systems. There are three stages of meaningful use. The first stage has...