Meaningful Use for Nurses: Implications and Recommendations - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages ncludes by noting that meaningful use goes beyond simply using technology, it also includes interoperability and healthcare staff’s ability to access and use health information to support the duty and standard of care provided to patients in order to make sound clinical decisions.
This paper will examine the Meaningful Use program with regard to its impact on nurses and the nursing profession, health policy, patient outcomes, as well as population health. This will be accomplished by providing (i) an overview of the meaningful use program; (ii) an analysis of its implications the nursing profession; (iii) recommendations for the collection of additional criteria; and, (iv) concludes with a summary of the analysis, recommendations, and insights gained about the program. The paper was researched by reviewing medical, nursing and IT journals. The following search terms were used: ‘meaningful use’, ‘nursing meaningful use’; ‘meaningful use in practice operationalize’, ‘meaningful use criteria’; ‘data capture sharing meaningful use’, ‘advance clinical processes meaningful use’; ‘meaningful use improved outcomes.’
Meaningful Use refers to the appropriate use of Electronic Health Records (EHR) in the delivery of patient care. The definition itself was subject to sever scrutiny due to the $19 billion in funding initially available under the HITECH Act (Baron, 2010, 90). The definition was left to the Department of Health and Human Services where the definition of the attributes determined which physicians would qualify for incentive payment under the Act. As well, meaningful use also refers to improving healthcare delivery, efficiencies, and the removal of disparities (Baron, 2010, 90) in healthcare delivery. Under the Act, use of EHR must be meaningful, exchange health information electronically, and EHR must also be used to submit clinical quality measures to the Department of Health. The coordination of care, particularly given ...Download file to see next pagesRead More