How Stage 2 Meaningful Use Affects Record Release

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Posted By: Roberta Mullin April 17, 2012

Meaningful Use Changes Will Drive Patient Portals or PHR Applications

Steve Emery
Author of HealthPort Meaningful Use News & Updates

The Stage 2 Meaningful Use Notice of Proposed Rule Making is out, and it would bring sweeping changes to how hospitals and eligible professionals release records and other information to patients.

Essentially, CMS is dropping three Stage 1 meaningful use reporting criteria and replacing them with a core requirement for patient online access to medical records. CMS’ goal is to move the release of information (ROI) process from labor intensive and paper based to electronic and paper free.

This is a welcome change for HIM professionals and other ancillary departments that have been pulling files, scanning or making photocopies of records, and sending information to patients via snail mail for years.

Stage 1 Meaningful Use Criteria Being Dropped for EHs

Objective: Patient Electronic of Medical Records within 3 business days.
Measure: Electronic copies of discharge instructions at time of discharge.

Stage 2 Meaningful Use Criteria Added for Hospitals

Objective: Provide patients the ability to view online, download and transmit information about a hospital admission.
Measures: Must Pass Two
More than 50% of all patients who are discharged from the inpatient or emergency department of an eligible hospital or CAH have their information available online within 36 hours of discharge AND more than 10 percent of all patients who are discharged from the inpatient or emergency department of an eligible hospital or CAH view, download or transmit to a third party their information during the EHR reporting period.

Bottom line for providers
The bottom line for providers is that Stage 2 meaningful use changes with regards to these specific criteria will drive organizations to implement a patient portal or personal health record application and connect their EHR systems to these systems. Through these efforts, it is expected that patient requests to the HIM department for medical records will decrease, as patients will be able to obtain records themselves online and at any time.

To make the new objective and measures truly “meaningful,” facilities must advertise their portals and get patients to use them. Finally, only a minimum set of data is required to be available online. Facilities must still have a process to accommodate patients’ paper requests for other portions of their records.

Stage 1 Meaningful Use Criteria Being Dropped for EPs

Objective: Patient Electronic of Medical Records within 3 business days.
Measure: The “menu” requirement for “timely access” on the EP list.

Stage 2 Meaningful Use Criteria Added for EPs

Objective: Provide patients the ability to view online, download and transmit their health information within four business days of the information being available to the EP.
Measures: Must Pass Two
More than 50% of all unique patients seen by the EP during the EHR reporting period are provided timely (within four business days as above) online access to their health information subject to the EP’s discretion to withhold certain information AND  more than 10 of all unique patients seen by the EP during the EHR reporting period (or their authorized representatives) view, download or transmit to a third party their information.

Steve Emery is an industry expert and Director of Product Management at HealthPort where he also authors their Meaningful Use News and Updates that serves as an educational forum for discussions on the intricacies and steps involved in the Meaningful Use process. This post originally appear on Health Management Technology.