The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently released two notices of proposed rulemaking (NPRMs) related to Stage 2 of the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs that detail proposed Meaningful Use requirements for providers and the Standards & Certification Criteria (S&CC) that delineate proposed requirements for certified EHR products. The vast majority of the proposed criteria derive from the two federal advisory committees that have been lauded as a model for public,

Health IT plays a central role in building a 21st Century health care system—where care is safer, better coordinated, and patient-centered, where we pay for the right care, not just more care. Increasing the adoption and use of health IT is crucial, so we’ve set an ambitious goal for 2012: get 100,000 health care providers paid under the Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Programs by year’s end. For us to succeed,

The health care system is going digital at a fast clip. In the last two years, the number of hospitals using electronic health records has more than doubled to 35%—and  the majority of remaining hospitals say they have near-term plans to do so. While patient or consumer use of digital tools for health, such as patient portals and personal health records (PHRs), generally lag behind, it is catching up, especially when you also consider the use of “non-traditional” tools,