Experts Lobby for Public Health Goals in "Meaningful Use" Incentive Plan

Public health experts lobbied last week for adding more public health goals to the "meaningful use" incentive plan, according to a Government Health IT report.

The request comes in response to the recently released final rule on meaningful use, which requires healthcare providers to use EHR to complete one public health objective from a list of options.

Lobbyists suggested the plan include goals to encourage public health minders to measure population health trends in chronic and virus-borne diseases. Discussions at the July 29 meeting of Health IT Policy Committee's meaningful use work group led to a suggestion that EHR could also carry a feature that would transmit data to state public health agencies to improve case reporting.

Read the Government Health IT report on public health goals for meaningful use.

Read more on meaningful use:

-AMA Says Physicians Will Struggle to Meet "Meaningful Use" by Start of Incentive Program

-5 Tips on Preparing to Meet Meaningful Use Regulations

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