Meaningful Use and What It Means to Be an EHR

Health IT has changed tremendously over the last few years. The biggest change in the United States has come from the simple phrase “meaningful use.” The term is now solidly entrenched as the catchphrase for health IT in the United States. Most important, meaningful use represents reasonable first steps toward the long-term potential for health IT. For better or worse, the dreams and ambitions of the healthcare informatics industry are tied to the concept.

The phrase first appeared in the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) portion of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). ARRA defined that a substantial portion ($20 billion) of the money set aside by Congress to stimulate the United States economy after the financial and foreclosure crisis would go to doctors and hospitals who “meaningfully use” clinical software. The HITECH act was the first step in President Barack Obama’s comprehensive plan for healthcare reform. Clinicians would receive the stimulus money to pay for software to improve the delivery of patient care.