Meaningful Use

The term “Meaningful Use” was first established in 2009 in the ARRA act which provided incentives if providers had EHRs that met certain specific criteria.  This was the turning point for many providers who switched from paper to EHRs.  Other older providers sold their practices and retired.  Those incentives are no longer in place.  The Department of Health and Human Services changed the criterion and no longer incentivizes for “meaningful use.”  Instead the focus has been on interoperability.

Similarly, the COVID pandemic has rushed us into telemedicine before many organizations were ready to do so.  Privacy protections were loosened so that medical providers could function.  

List and describe 3 major forces that have impacted health care delivery, meaningful use, and the use of health information technology in the past 10 years. (There is no right or wrong answer here.  This is an opportunity to ponder, beyond the pandemic).