Meaningful Use Requirements: The Basics

3 Stages of Meaningful Use: Meaningful use will be phased in over three stages, allowing providers to gradually increase their EHR use. Only Stage 1 Meaningful Use has been finalized to date; providers follow the rules of Stage 1 for two years before being required to meet the increasingly stringent requirements of Stage 2 to qualify for successive incentives.

Requirements for Stage 1 Meaningful Use: In Stage 1, meaningful use is defined by 25 measures that are divided into two groups: 15 Core Set Measures and 10 Menu Set Measures. To successfully demonstrate meaningful use, eligible providers must satisfy all 15 of the Core Set and 5 of the 10 Menu Set Measures.
Note: There are some exclusions for specialists regarding specific measures that may not be relevant to the scope of their practices.

Core Set
• CPOE • Medication List • Clinical Quality Measures • Drug-Drug, Drug-Allergy Checks • Exchange Clinical Information • Electronic Copy of Health Information • ePrescribing • Vital Signs • Clinical Summaries • Demographics • Smoking Status • Medication Allergy List • Problem List • Clinical Decision Support • Privacy and Security

 

Menu Set
• Drug Formulary Checks • Patient-Specific Education • Lab Results in EHR • Medication Reconciliation • Patient Lists • Summary of Care • Patient Reminders • Immunization Registries • Timely Electronic Access to Health Info • Syndromic Surveillance

One of the 15 Core Set Measures is the Reporting of Clinical Quality Measures. Providers must report on 3 Core (or 3 Alternative Core) Clinical Quality Measures and 3 Additional Clinical Quality Measures from a list of 38. Many of these measures are the same as those included in the PQRI program, although the reporting methodology differs.

Attestation: In 2011 and 2012, providers report that they have demonstrated meaningful use through attestation—documenting through the online “registration and attestation portal” that they have met each of the meaningful use measures by providing numerators and denominators where measures call for percentages, by stating “yes” where measures require performing an action once or enabling a functionality, or by claiming an exclusion. The information submitted must be generated from the provider’s certified EHR, and attestation will be subject to potential audits.

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