Meaningful Use Stage 2 and HIE Highlights
Dr. Farzad Mostashari
National Coordinator for Health Information Technology
The CMS and ONC Meaningful Use Stage 2 rules we just issued represent a massive step forward in advancing the secure exchange of information between providers and patients to support better care across the nation. Getting the right information to the right person at the right time can be a matter of life and death. Unfortunately, anyone who has been a patient or cared for a patient understands that it’s simply not happening today.
Back in 2009 when we were drafting the initial set of meaningful use criteria and required standards, our hopes and expectations were subdued by the reality we faced. Different vendor products used different proprietary or local codes, there were strong disagreements about how laboratory results or patient summaries should be packaged, and there was simply no consensus on how the Internet could be used to securely send patient information. Over the past two years, thanks to the initial steps we took in Stage 1 and the relentless work of almost 1,000 volunteers in ONC’s standards and implementation activities, we can now leap towards interoperability and