Meaningful Use Stage 3: Coordination of Care

A primary goal of the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is to facilitate improved care through the meaningful use of electronic health record technology.  Key to accomplishing this goal is the interoperability of Personal Health Data (PHI) which serves as a foundational component for the creation of new care coordination models, patient engagement processes and recognition of real-time provider engagement models for achieving improved outcomes throughout.

Starting in 2018, Meaningful Use Stage 3 will require new measures for the following:

• Increase of View, Download, Transmit (VDT) activity within patient portal. As a minimum of 10 percent of patients seen must actively engage with their electronic health record provided by their hospital
• Increase of 25 percent in secure messages sent to hospital-discharged patients. Especially, in order to help lower readmission rates and improve care quality
• Introduction of patients' ability to capture and share self-generated health device data. Specifically, with providers managing their care and as defined in the "Patient Health Information Capture" section.

Needless to say, these are all very exciting and challenging Meaningful Use Stage 3 measures that the industry must align to support, creating an opportunity for the realignment of patient portal providers and consumer engagement solutions currently used by hospitals to achieve these engagement benchmarks. Currently, meeting patient engagement objectives can be a struggle for hospitals and requires new patient engagement strategies.  Handing over a pack of papers to patients during the discharge process must need to replace with electronic solutions found in patient engagement solutions that support ongoing patient relationship management and portal utilization.

Patient Engagement Solutions-

One such patient engagement solution that is out-pacing others can be found through the combination of the YourCare Continuum Suite (YCC) patient portal with the YourCare Everywhere (YCE) consumer engagement health platform.  As two stand-alone solutions that seamlessly interact with one another, YCC and YCE work in tandem to support clinical measure goals attainment in a sustained VDT and secure messaging activity for the hospital.

These integrated solutions increase consumer engagement through the YCE content and wellness dashboard, where personal clinical and wellness data can be aggregated, shared and managed with ease and provide hospitals with a digital-first advantage via a patient-centered model which helps patients and consumers manage their health world.  Through the use of one of the first Meaningful Use certified mobile apps¹ – available in Apple iOS and Android, which also provides full patient portal functionality including secure messaging, the YCC and YCE solutions are providing hospitals a pathway to Meaningful Use success coupled with meaningful consumer and patient engagement to grow their hospital brand and revenues.

Combination of technology and patient engagement solutions-

Hospitals must understand that Meaningful Use Stage 3 success depends on a combination of technology. Also, patient engagement solutions that work collaboratively to achieve the desired results.  Increasing patient engagement must be a strategic focus that backed with technology solutions while hospitals actively reach out to consumer and patient groups within their community via marketing efforts encouraging sustained engagement throughout the continuum of care.  YourCare Everywhere understands this need and integrates marketing services with compelling content and tools to improve engagement, adoption and brand preference for hospitals.

Many factors come into play when defining a new model for healthier, engaged populations.  These upcoming Meaningful Use Stage 3 measures targeting improved care coordination, timely secure messaging and the ability to share self-generated device data are great steps forward for patients, consumers, providers and health systems.  YourCare Continuum and YourCare Everywhere offer leading solutions in providing health management platforms. Patients can actively participate in their healthcare with their care teams across all settings throughout their health and wellness journey.

1  This modular EHR, YourCare Continuum portal with YourCare Everywhere App 6.0.0, is 2014 Edition-compliant and has been certified by an ONC-ACB in accordance with the applicable certification criteria adopted by the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. This certification does not represent an endorsement by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services or guarantee the receipt of incentive payments. However, For a complete review of the EHR certification and accompanying price transparency visit certification page.