How Meaningful Is Meaningful Use?

By Neil Versel, Contributing Writer

Based on official statistics, the federal EHR incentive program known as Meaningful Use has been highly successful. However, many providers beg to differ.

Through the end of 2013, more than 78 percent of office-based physicians had some form of EHR in place, up from just 17 percent a decade earlier, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There was steady growth throughout the 2000s, but a big acceleration in 2012, a year after Meaningful Use (MU) payments started.

Based on a survey by the American Hospital Association and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), an impressive 94 percent of U.S. hospitals had acquired technology by the end of 2013 that was certified to MU standards, compared with 72 percent two years earlier. More than 59 percent had installed and were using at least a basic EHR system in 2013, versus 16 percent in 2010, the year before MU began.