Meaningful Use Guidelines includes Emergency Department
The much anticipated final rule outlining the first stage of Meaningful Use requirements was released on July 13, and there’s some exciting changes that positively affect MEDHOST Customers.
MEDHOST was pleased to learn that after receiving an overwhelming number of comments, the CMS expanded their initial CPOE requirements to include the ED. This means that MEDHOST Customers leveraging the Order Entry module are in many cases already meeting this first-stage requirement just by ordering medications! As we’ve always known, the ED is the front door to healthcare, and we applaud CMS for recognizing this and incorporating the ED into the hospital Meaningful Use requirements.
It’s difficult for hospitals to get all of their clinicians using CPOE house-wide, so by incorporating the ED into the CPOE requirement, MEDHOST Customers can be rewarded for their CPOE adoption in the ED. Unlike other CPOE solutions, MEDHOST’s Order Entry module is so easy to use that clinician compliance is always high, and that’s why our Customers have been so successful. Clinicians continually commend MEDHOST for its one-touch Order Entry design, use of clinician-friendly terms, minimal prompting and customizable order sets for rapid input.
In addition, the less than six-month implementation time of MEDHOST’s Order Entry solution is much shorter than the time for enterprise systems, so hospitals looking to deploy MEDHOST can improve patient care and safety much sooner, as well as quickly meet the first-stage requirement. Hospitals with a low level of inpatient CPOE adoption can set the bar for CPOE acceptance by implementing MEDHOST in the ED, which also enables them to generate revenue to pay for other IT infrastructure enhancements and prepare for Stage 2 requirements and beyond.
There are several other EHR requirements outlined by CMS that MEDHOST helps hospitals meet. These include:
· Recording demographics
· Recording and chart changes in vital signs
· Recording smoking status
· Implementing one clinical decision support rule
· Electronically exchanging key clinical information
· Protecting electronic health information created or maintained by certified EHR
MEDHOST EDIS version 4.2 is a CCHIT Certified® 08 Emergency Department Electronic Health Record, and we will obtain Meaningful Use certification as soon as the certifying bodies are identified.
We’re dedicated to bringing solutions to the ED that will positively impact patient care and safety, while providing tangible business benefits for Meaningful Use and the hospital’s financial health. It is both exciting and rewarding to know that our Customers can now apply their use of MEDHOST toward the requirements outlined in this incentive program.
Craig Herrod
President of MEDHOST