First Steps Along the Road to Meaningful Use

With the passage last month of the final rule for meaningful use under the ARRA-HITECH Act, healthcare providers are now able to take their first concrete steps in making the transition to electronic health records. This issue's three-part cover story, which begins on p. 8, offers industry experts’ and CIOs’ perspectives on both some of the core requirements of meaningful use for Stage 1, as well as their views of the long road ahead leading up to the ramped-up requirements for 2013 and 2015. The companion pieces drill down deeper, to show how the rule is making an impact inside four forward-looking healthcare organizations (p. 14), and how hospital and health system CIOs are providing tools to help physicians achieve meaningful use (p. 20).

Compliance deadlines are fast approaching for two other policy mandates, HIPAA 5010 and ICD-10. Find out how hospitals and physician practices are meeting the challenges of these dual initiatives on p. 24.

On another front, a collaborative in rural Montana shares its experience with using cloud technology, which has brought interoperability and simplicity to the task of sharing radiology images-all at a considerable cost savings (p. 30).

Meanwhile, on p. 50 Joseph A. Scopelliti, M.D., president and CEO of the Guthrie Clinic and Co-CEO, Medical Affairs, of Guthrie Health, shares his experience with electronic medical records, first rolled out by Guthrie's Robert Packer Hospital in 1993.

In addition, Daniel Garrett, partner and HCIT leader at PricewaterhouseCoopers, comments on his organization's recently released report on meaningful use, in an exclusive interview on p. 52.