Stage 2 of Meaningful Use sets goals for healthcare professionals more rather than for technology. But, this does not mean that there would not be technology changes which would be required, as the core is electronic records which are to be used in a meaningful manner by medical practitioners and hospitals.
The following tabulates the requirements as per each stage.
| Stage 1: Meaningful use criteria focus on |
Stage 2: Meaningful use criteria focus on |
Stage 3: Meaningful use criteria focus on |
| Electronically capturing health information in a standardized format | More rigorous health information exchange (HIE) | Improving quality, safety, and efficiency, leading to improved health outcomes |
| Using that information to track key clinical conditions | Increased requirements for e-prescribing and incorporating lab results | Decision support for national high-priority conditions |
| Communicating that information for care coordination processes | Electronic transmission of patient care summaries across multiple settings | Patient access to self-management tools |
| Initiating the reporting of clinical quality measures and public health information | More patient-controlled data | Access to comprehensive patient data through patient-centered HIE |
| Using information to engage patients and their families in their care | Improving population health |
Source: http://www.healthit.gov/policy-researchers-implementers/meaningful-use
Now, let us look at the various technology changes which would be required as part of Meaningful use stage 2 and stage 3.
- Querying information from other applications: Rigorous health information exchange requires great connectivity, and on an application level, superior processing capabilities to sift through the large data. The technology change would allow communication between applications through a data interface which is not present currently, and also have elements to ensure secure transfer of the data
- ER information transmitted to primary care physicians: This requirement can be achieved only if the system has a capability to push information on the system to those outside the system. The primary care physician might not be in the system; hence rapid timely communication is a need which has to be met by the advance messaging features of the EHR systems
- Data transfer between systems and Clinical care reporting: Many hospitals have various technology systems involved in charting a complete EHR profile, imaging and clinical software being the most important. Improving the connection between clinical data elements, diagnostic systems and decision support systems aid in reporting care plans and ensuring appropriate care is provided to patients by medical professionals apart from the primary medical professional. A well tested system ensures upkeep of productivity and providing good patient care by ensuring that all the systems are set to work together.
- Big data analytics: There is expected to be large amounts of data which will require quick and precise analysis to aid in meaningful use of EHR systems. In Meaningful use Stage 3, there might be a need for social and behavioral data to be captured, which would again result in large volumes of data to be analyzed. Such analytical data obtained can be used to determine factors of population health
- Interface Testing: During implementation of any software, healthcare organizations need to be aware of the specifications and accepted data formats for each system they plan to interface. Testing and implementing interfaces will help hospitals not run into bottlenecks amidst the roll out phase. Starting testing early can help remove obstacles, create a smoother transition process and curb productivity concerns.
The team at Nalashaa offers Testing as a Service (TAAS) to enable quick, thorough and extensive testing of your Meaningful Use Stage 2 and Stage 3 requirements and their integrations. We offer a personalized QA group assigned to you, for manually testing or creating scripts for automatic testing, to verify your products are delivering the desired results. The testing service model allows this testing at fixed cost on the basis of output not variable cost on the basis of work.
Our ROI driven engagement model utilizes our extensive product engineering experience in acting as your independent testing entity. We also offer documentation reviews to verify your team delivered a fully tested evolved product. For those clients desiring a more traditional offshoring testing laboratory we offer a center of excellence specializing in healthcare.
Aathira Nair
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