Achieving meaningful use does not necessarily lead to meaningful improvements in the quality of care, according to a new paper published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The authors say that finding an EHR vendor that meets the specific needs of each practice is key to unlocking the full potential of the technology.

The team wrote that the government's meaningful use rules were intended to ensure that EHR systems would have certain minimum features. These are intended to act as a baseline, but may not go far enough to enable all practices to make significant improvements in quality.

In order to use EHR systems to reduce medical errors and improve patient outcomes, the authors had three recommendations. First, they said providers should do their homework and make sure an EHR vendor offers the features their practice needs, regardless of whether or not these options are relevant to the meaningful use rules.

Second, the team said practices need to track their progress after implementation to ensure their efforts are working. Finally, they recommended the federal government continue to support innovation in the field.

While meeting the meaningful use rules is important for qualifying for incentive payments, going beyond these regulations may lead to greater gains in quality.