Joseph Conn a HITS staff writer gives a succinct update on what may be in-store for the definition of “meaningful use” and electronic health records (http://tinyurl.com/lbfjlv). A clear definition will not be available until next year leaving those developing EHRs a bit in a lurch. Focusing on patient safety and quality is a safe bet.
Testing of systems will be costly for vendors ($30,000-$50,000), and less so for hospitals with the ability to perform modular testing of products ($5,000-$35,000). The modular testing mechanism will enable facilities to maintain legacy systems while adding on modules that fill gaps that are not covered by their present legacy systems. This mechanism will allow smaller organizations to avoid costly enterprise installments. Some vendors will defer up front costs with higher licensing fees preventing a large upfront capital payment.
The barrier for testing of physician practices will be low estimated to be $150-$300 per provider. This should help improve the adoption rates and hopefully curtail what is happening in Phoenix Arizona where physicians are de-installing EHRs after having one of the more robust adoption rates in the country (http://tinyurl.com/l5gy4n).
