While the federal government's incentive program for the meaningful use of EHRs may have drawn some criticism, the recent failure of a similar initiative in the UK - and more importantly, the differences between the two programs - may signal that the U.S. is on the right track.

Over the past decade, the British National Health Services tried to incentivize the adoption of EHRs as part of an effort to create a nationwide networked healthcare system, very similar to what is taking place currently in the U.S. However, this program was recently halted.

Fierce Health IT points out that strong resistance from physicians was the primary cause of the failure. Medical professionals were primarily against excessive regulations and a lack of opportunity to provide their own input.

However, the U.S. meaningful use program is very different, the news source states. Professional groups have been consulted at every stage of drawing up the regulations. Furthermore, there is more flexibility in program requirements than UK physicians faced.

It may be too early to call the U.S. program a success. Federal agencies are currently hammering out the second stage of requirements, which could play an important role in the initiative's ultimate success or failure. However, it has thus far avoided some of the pitfalls that brought down the UK's version.