CMS announced in a final rule that providers and eligible professionals will receive an additional year to upgrade electronic health record systems to meet requirements for Stage 2 of the meaningful use program, Modern Healthcare reports (Tahir, Modern Healthcare, 8/29).

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) invites you to register for the 2014 Annual Consumer Health IT Summit on September 15th in Washington DC. This exciting day-long event highlights public and private sector efforts to advance patient engagement by empowering people with their digital health data and technology. To register and get additional logistical details, visit http://www.capconcorp.com/meeting/2014/Consumer-Health-IT-Summit/default....

Florida hospitals that in 2010 adopted all five core measures for medication management under the meaningful use program reported the lowest rates of adverse drug events in the state, according to a new study published in the journal Healthcare, Clinical Innovation & Technology repor

Health Affairs published three new studies that examine meaningful use attestation among eligible professionals and hospitals and highlight the challenges providers face.

Under the 2009 economic stimulus package, providers who demonstrate meaningful use of certified electronic health records can qualify for Medicaid and Medicare incentive payments.

At the July 10 Health IT Policy Committee meeting, CMS and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT reported the latest Stage 2 attestation numbers: 972 eligible professionals (EPs) and 10 eligible hospitals (EHs) through July 1.

The American Medical Association sent a letter to CMS raising concerns that a majority of health care providers will be unable to advance to Stage 2 of the meaningful use program under the current timetable, Health Data Management reports (Goedert, Health Data Management, 7/22).

Medical experts told members of Congress that health IT solutions, such as electronic health records, are falling short in efforts to improve patient safety, Healthcare IT News reports (McCann, Healthcare IT News, 7/18).

The HIMSS EHR Association in a letter urged the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT and CMS to quickly issue a final rule regarding 2014 meaningful use reporting requirements and to delay the start of Stage 3 until at least 2018, Healthcare IT News reports (Monegain, Healthcare IT News, 7/11).

The number of eligible health care professionals and hospitals that have attested to Stage 2 of the meaningful use program rose slightly in June, according to the latest CMS data, Health Data Management reports (Slabodkin, Health Data Management, 7/9).

A few weeks ago, the nation's health care organizations received the promise of some much-needed relief from the pressure of meeting looming deadlines for achieving Stage 2 of the meaningful use program. That came with the release of a proposed rule from CMS and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT intended to give providers more flexibility and time in achieving Stage 2 objectives.

Our Chief Experience Officer, Bennett Lauber will be presenting "EHR Usability, The future of medicine is easy to use" at the 3rd Annual OSEHR Conference on Sept 5th at 10:30 am.

OSEHRA, an emerging leader in advancing open source electronic health record software and related health information technology, is bringing together the best and brightest from healthcare and other open source initiatives to share their expertise in three key areas:

The Association of Medical Directors of Information Systems is seeking clarity around CMS' proposed changes to the meaningful use program, Modern Healthcare reports.

AMDIS has tasked board member Michael Zaroukian with drafting formal comments to CMS' proposed rule (Conn, Modern Healthcare, 6/19).

Jacob Reider, deputy national coordinator and chief medical officer at the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT, said that the agency wants to make the meaningful use program more flexible and less focused on providers meeting a specific set of clinical quality measures, Modern Healthcare reports.

The American Hospital Association sent a letter Tuesday asking CMS and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT to quickly finalize a proposed rule that extends the meaningful use timeline so that providers can take advantage of the added flexibility, EHR Intelligence reports (Murphy, EHR Intellig

Perhaps this is the reason that Meaningful Use Stage 2 requires evidence of 'User Centered Design'?

Stage 2 meaningful use attestation among eligible hospitals and providers has increased slightly over the past month, according to CMS, Health Data Management reports.

On Thursday, the American Hospital Association sent a letter to the Office of Management and Budget's Office placing its support behind a proposal to open up data on the of public health agencies and registries to receive data from health care providers under the meaningful use program, EHR Intelligence rep

Electronic health records dramatically advance patient care. At Atrius Health, we fervently support the intent of meaningful use, a CMS program started in 2011 that provides financial incentives to organizations that use EHRs to improve patient care and penalties to those that don't. We have watched with anticipation as this program has helped move the majority of U.S. physicians to electronic patient records. However, as the program progresses, we encourage Congress and CMS to re-assess the program's sustainability.

The health care industry is divided over a proposed rule released earlier this week by CMS and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT that would give providers an additional year to upgrade electronic health record systems to meet reporting requirements for Stage 2 of the Medicare meaningful use program, Modern Healthcare