Meaningful Use and the Best Health Information Exchange: Are There Risks?.

As a member of the healthcare industry, you’ve seen plenty of news about Meaningful Use. You know that many professionals see the Meaningful Use deadlines as clashing with software best practices, and perhaps you’re one of those people. In fact, many hospitals are jumping into brand new EHR software far earlier than their best practices allows. This means the testing and configuring stages were completely left out of the equation.

Proponents of Meaningful Use, who believe it’s a way to protect patients far and wide, have even offered some criticism due to the deficiencies that seem blatantly obvious in the certified EHR technology in place for EHR Incentive Programs. It’s interesting for many in the industry to see requirements for something the markets weren’t asking for. While healthcare providers look to the future, they’re just trying to get all they can out of their current EHR solutions and get the best health information exchange possible.

The problem many healthcare IT professionals are battling is jumping to another system that will be obsolete soon. It appears that EHR technology just isn’t keeping up with demand.

One of the most pressing concerns is the exchange of health information. For instance, there is no fluidity in the support of healthcare reform, especially where reimbursements are concerned. In fact, there appears to be more of a focus on value than volume. Information needs to be connected and not buried where it can’t be seen. Essentially, nobody wants to see a siloed environment, and it appears that this is the direction the industry is headed.

Many in the industry are calling for more discussions on the matter and perhaps some goal setting sessions where the future has a more distinctive, clear vision. Instead of investing in systems that aren’t going to last a year, a more insightful look into the future will help guide more stability within EHR vendors.

With Meaningful Use as it is now, there are billions of dollars in incentives for eligible providers. There are also a lot of incentives for EHR vendors. The industry is evolving into a more value-based approach to delivering care and patients are starting to evolve as well – into consumers, which means they’ll have more expectations of the healthcare industry.

Meaningful Use is currently in its second phase and the results, given the amount of criticism, have not been the most promising.
The best health information exchange involves processes that take into account the fact that hospitals have disparate systems across their own campuses. When a patient seeks out healthcare at one facility and then travels to another for more treatment from a different specialist, those specialists need to be able to share information. You should be focusing on vendor neutral archiving when it comes to storing and accessing medical data, including medical imaging.

OffSite Image Management, Inc., has developed a method where healthcare providers who need access to medical imaging can access it easily. IT staff constantly hampered by Meaningful Use requirements are finding workable solutions through OffSite and the best health information exchange processes available.