Meaningful Use for Nurses, Implications and Recommendation Guidelines - Coursework Example

Meaningful Use for Nurses, Implications and Recommendation Guidelines al Affiliation Overview of the Meaningful Use The United States Government introduced the Meaningful Use Program so as to encourage health care providers and professionals to demonstrated meaningful use of certified Electronic Health Record. The program was initiated as a key component of the 2009 Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act. According to Health IT. Gov (2015), the main goal of Meaningful Use initiative is to encourage health care providers and practitioners to adopt and use electronic health record systems. It does this by creating an infrastructure that can be used to improve quality, efficiency and safety of patient care in different health care settings in the United States of America. The program was based on the principle that all patients have the right to the best available care at the lowest possible cost. As such, various care providers are encouraged to take part in the program by complying with the provisions that guide the use of certified Electronics Health Records. Practitioners and care providers are required to meaningfully use the available EHR to be able to meet various objectives and goals that will have a positive impact on patient care. Through it, health care facilities have been able to embrace health care IT while also impacting positively on the wellbeing of the patient. According to the HITECH Act, health care providers and professionals who do not exhibit meaningful use of the certified Electronic Health Records may receive less than one hundred percent of the medical fees for the professional services that they offer (Health IT. Gov, 2015). This is revenue penalty that is strategically put in place to help promote the program and inspire use of IT in health records. The available incentives and penalties have encouraged care providers to come up with the best EHR solutions and approaches that will ensure that the workflow needs are met as per the requirements of the HITECH Act. There are several objectives and benefits that are achieved when the Meaningful Use is implemented in a given health care setting. Cusack (2010) notes that Meaningful Use and EHR enhance quality, safety and efficiency of patient care while also minimizing health inequalities. Moreover, it enhances patient and family coordination during the care provision process thus improving the overall process. Meaningful care also facilitates the maintenance of privacy and the security of the patients’ health information. According to Tamara, McDonell, Helfrich, Jesse, Fihn & Rumsfeld (2010), privacy and security of the information that care providers get from the patient is usually a very critical issue. In the instances where the patient believes that security and privacy of their information will be compromised, the overall care process will be affected. This problem has been handled through the Meaningful Use program. Individuals have also been empowered through the initiative. Brailer (2010) also informs that the implementation of Meaningful Use has availed robust research data that plays a key role in helping enhance and improve the heath care systems in the United States of America. The Meaningful Use Program for medical heath care providers and professionals is implemented in three different stages. Each of the stages builds on the previous one so as to expand the patient’s experience within a given health care facility. By doing so, the capacity of the health institutions is expanded so as to benefit a wider patient population. The first stage is the data capture and data sharing phase. Stage1 focuses on the proper capture and sharing of patients’ data through the use of EHR solutions. After fully completing the first stage, the program moves to stage 2 which in the advance clinical process stage. The central goal of the second stage is to enhance the capability of each of the scare providers that had implemented then initial stage. Before qualifying to move to the second stage, care providers must meet 17 core objectives as well as three of the six menu set goals. The final stage is the improve outcome phase. According to Tamara et al. (2010), stage three of the program focuses on advance use of approved EHR solutions and systems to promote exchange of information with the goal of improving care outcomes in different care settings. Implication of Meaningful Use Meaningful Use is part of a very ambitious plan created by the Health Information Technology for Economics and Clinical Health Act (HITCEH) and it appears to be impacting positively on care provision process. Health care providers and professionals have been forced to redesign and realign their practices so as to comply with the Act. This entails coming up with electronic health record solutions. While facilities go ahead with the plans, they do not only receive the incentives associated with it but also impacting on the wellbeing of the patients. Brailer (2010) notes that most health institutions have been able to define the criteria that is used collect and exchange heath information through the guidelines and provisions inherent in the Meaningful Use program. The ultimate goal remains improving public health outcomes. It is therefore apparent that Meaningful Use program has enabled care providers to initiate reforms that will drive the country towards better and quality health care at lower costs. Since Meaningful Use is a component of the Health Information Technology for Economics and Clinical Health Act, health care provider, nurses and all other medical care professional are required to follow it. To encourage this, the government has come up with inceptives as well as tax penalties which are meant to enhance compliance. Policy makers in different heath care settings are therefore required to come up with guidelines and practicing polices that will ensure that those working within a particular health care facility engage in practices that promote the use of EHR solutions. It has not only been made a component of the care provision mission but also an avenue through which cost of care provision can be reduced while at the same time ensuring the privacy and security of the patients’ information. In implementing the Meaningful Use and achieving the goals of heath care reforms initiated by the plan, health care providers are required to accomplish various things that will benefit both the care providers and the public. In order to add value to the available processes, Care providers and medical professionals like nurses need to take the plan as a central tenet in their efforts (Tamara et al., 2010). It necessitates the making and enactment of policies which makes the use of technology in capturing, storing and sharing of health information as a key aspect in the facility’s mission. Without such policies, the reforms in the health care system and in the care provision process may not be sustained for a long period of time. Nurses are very integral in the meaningful use of data as well as in the collecting and the reporting process. The documentation work which is done by the nurses can show how the patient is fairing. The data they collect complements and supplements the physical examination, tests and procedures which are carried out to help elevate the health status of the patient. Cusack (2010) remarks that getting meaningful use program to benefit nurses entails making sure that structured electronic data documentation solutions are available. The solutions will not only capture the traditional data elements like the care interventions and vital signs but also the interactional trends and patterns. Such capabilities will allow them to effectively communicate the patients’ outcome and experience within a particular care facility and setting. In the traditional practice, consistent and standards nursing vocabulary is normally lacking making it hard to drive the collected structured data within the interoperable Electronic Health Record solutions. With the implementation and use of the Meaningful Use, the role and the contribution of the nurses in ensuring quality and better health outcome will become more visible. Nurses, health care providers and other health professionals need to ensure that they take part in the designing of HER solutions that will not only capture the physiologic state of the patients but also describe their response to injury, illness and the treatment being offered. Every nurse and health professional has the obligation to ensure that the patients receive the best available care. The implementation of Meaningful Use program contributes to the fulfillment of this obligation. Bowens (2010), states that it is also important for nurses to assure the patients that the EHR solutions that have been developed and implemented will preserve the contribution of the nurses and care givers and while simultaneously improving the quality and safety of care which is provided. Recommendation The three stage of the Meaningful Use program set out the objectives that need to be met to enhance the efficiency, quality and safety of care which is offered to patients throughout the United States of America. Despite this being the case, this treatise recommends that the program should make the mandate of each of the health care professionals known in each of the three stages. The program has clearly spelt out the functionality of the initiatives in all the stages (Brailer, 2010). However, the mandate of those involved has not been clearly spelt out and this needs to be reconsidered. Secondly, some care institutions have gone ahead to implement the program only to get the incentives. As such, there is need for enforcing authorities to encourage the care providers to instill systems that are meant to improve quality and efficiency of care and not just for the purpose of receiving the federal incentives. Moreover, the stages and steps must be made to encourage the participation of the nurses in the picking and implementations of the systems form the start. Conclusion The meaningful use program has provided care providers and health professionals like nurses with an avenue to help augment the quality of care offered to the patients through the United States of America. It does this by supporting and promoting the use of the best available EHR solutions to allow for accurate capture, use and sharing of patient information. The accurate sharing of the date among the care providers has enhanced the quality of care provided to patients in the United States. It is apparent that the application of Meaningful Use has fostered safe and efficient medical practices making it possible to enhance the wellbeing of the patients. Nurses, doctors and other health care professional have a very central role to play in ensuring that the program impacts positively on the care provision facility and on the health status of the patients. All these professionals need to be involved in determining the best available EHR solutions which will allow the care provider to achieve its objectives. References Bowens, F. (2010). Health information technology: integration of clinical workflow into meaningful use of electronic health records. Perspectives in Health Information Management, 7(4), 10-20. Brailer, D. (2010). Interview: guiding the health information technology agenda. Health Affairs 29 (4), 586–95. Cusack, C. (2010). Electronic health records and electronic prescribing: promise and pitfalls. Obstetrics and Gynecology Clinics of North America 35 (1), 63-79.  Health IT. Gov. (2015). EHR Incentives & Certification. Retrieved from http://www.healthit.gov/providers-professionals/how-attain-meaningful-use. Tamara, L., McDonell, M., Helfrich, C., Jesse, R., Fihn, S., & Rumsfeld, J. (2010). Strategies from a nationwide health information technology implementation: the VA CART story. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 25(1), 72–76.  Read More