EHR/EMR “Meaningful Use” and Certification
March 2010
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), contains the provisions for Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH). Through HITECH, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)[1] intends to incentivize healthcare providers to engage in "meaningful use" of "certified" EHR or EMR. Until recently, the definition of "meaningful use" has been speculative. On January 13, 2010, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, a division of HHS, released Notices of Proposed Rule Making (NPRMs)[2] which provide some additional guidance regarding "meaningful use" and "certified" EHR/EMR.
