Some specialists have expressed concerns that the meaningful use rules may not apply their type of practice, but experts say that just about any specialty can improve the quality of care they deliver by complying with the guidelines.

Radiologists in particular have complained about the meaningful use rules, but Steve Fischer, the CIO of the Center for Diagnostic Imaging, said at the recent conference of the Radiological Society of North America that complying with the rules makes sense, according to Government Health IT.

He said that penalties will be applied to radiologists at some point. Therefore, implementing qualifying EHR systems now while there are still incentive payments on the table is a smarter business decision than waiting for penalties to kick in, the news source reports.

Furthermore, the second and third stages of meaningful use rules have yet to be written, but are expected to be more geared toward specialists, Fischer said.

A recent survey from consulting group KLAS showed that 60 percent of radiologists are at least considering adopting EHRs, but only about 6 percent consider themselves educated enough to meet the requirements.