EMR management makes a lots sense.Our organization is including systems that will assist us in providing better patient care.We use Touch screen devices for recording patient information unfortunately we get information on perspective patients faxed 90 percent of the time. CMS  and JCAHO has establish rules for standard treatment codes along with commonly defined quality measures .Accounting and Financial terms are standardized by the Financial Accounting Standards Board.With  these standards that are currently in place movement to a national EMR systems is a transition that should move forward more rapidly with the major change that has taken place with the recently passed healthcare bill.

The proposed rule for Meaningful Use (MU) criteria will require hospitals to comply with 23 measures with regards to the IT systems in order to access ARRA monies and eventually avoid penalties for non-compliance.  Regional Extension Centers (RECs) are being set up across the country to support mainly PCPs, but also hospitals, in working to meet the MU criteria. In the meantime, many organizations are in an adoption or upgrade “holding pattern” while they wait for both the final rule on MU and the implementation of the RECs.

What is your organization’s position on the MU criteria and how is it affecting your organization’s IT strategic plan? Will your organization qualify for REC support? If so, do you plan to take advantage of the REC's  (yet to be fully defined) services?