Stage 3 Meaningful Use Objectives: An Evaluation Of Care Coordination Measures Among Eligible Hospitals

• PI:                 Hadi Kharrazi, M.D. Ph.D., Peter Pronovost, M.D., Ph.D.
• Funder:        AHRQ ACTION-II
• Status:          Results published

This AHRQ-funded project aimed at evaluating the feasibility and practicality of specific meaningful use measures that are proposed by CMS/ONC to incentivize eligible hospitals to adopt and use EHRs (electronic health records) effectively. The measures examined were sending hospital-generated referral results to the original requestors in outpatient settings, and timely notification of key patient care team members of significant events that occurred during a hospitalization. Ten hospitals (5 in Maryland, 5 in Arkansas) collected the data collection and implemented the pilot roll-out of these two measures.

The study results were mixed. None of the hospitals had the capability to roll-out the two MU3 care coordination measures on a system-wide scale; however, a number of them were able to collect the necessary data to evaluate the feasibility of the roll-outs. Based on the preliminary findings, the majority of the hospitals did not collect the necessary data required to report these two MU3 measures in an electronic format. Common EHRs did not have the capability to automate the roll-out of these measures; however, there are innovative ways to enhance the current EHRs and/or adjust the clinical or administrative workflows to adapt these measures in near future.

Products:

Final report of this project is available here.