The government's meaningful use incentive program is generally limited to physicians, but another group of heathcare professionals is wondering why it has been left out of the party.

The American Academy of Physician Assistants is currently leading a charge to allow these professionals to participate in the meaningful use incentive program, according to Search Health IT. The group argues that in many cases, physician assistants are the ones who are using EHRs, so they should be able to reap the rewards as well.

Jenn Wall, a physician assistant in the burn and trauma unit at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, said that she routinely uses an EHR system to view notes, enter orders and write up treatment summaries, all of which are components of meaningful use. If the physician delegates these tasks to her, she should get the incentives for completing them, she told the news source.

The American Medical Association reports that physician assistants are eligible for meaningful use incentives if they work at a federally qualified health center or rural health clinic that is also led by the physician assistant.