--Incorporating clinical lab test results into certified EHR technology as structured data;

--Generating lists of patients by specific conditions to use for quality improvement, reduction of disparities, research or outreach;


--Sending reminders to patients per patient preference for preventive/follow-up care (EPs only);

--Providing patients with timely electronic access to their health information (including lab results, problem list, medication lists, medication allergies) within four business days of the information being available to the EP (EPs only);

--Using certified EHR technology to identify patient-specific education resources and provide those resources to the patient if appropriate;

--The EP, eligible hospital or CAH who receives a patient from another setting of care or provider of care or believes an encounter is relevant should perform medication reconciliation;

--The EP, eligible hospital or CAH who transitions their patient to another setting of care or provider of care or refers their patient to another provider of care should provide a summary of care record for each transition of care or referral;

--Capability to submit electronic data to immunization registries or Immunization Information Systems and actual submission in accordance with applicable law and practice;

--Capability to submit electronic data on reportable (as required by state or local law) lab results to public health agencies and actual submission in accordance with applicable law and practice (hospitals); and

--Capability to submit electronic syndromic surveillance data to public health agencies and actual submission in accordance with applicable law and practice.

Health Care Professionals Express Optimism and Concern

Dr. Lawrence Garber is a physician practicing internal medicine at Fallon Clinic in Worcester, Mass. and also a medical director for Informatics at Fallon Clinic, where he is helping to implement EHRs for every patient who visits Fallon Clinic. Garber commented to DOTmed News about the final rules.

"It's clear that a great deal of wisdom and thoughtful deliberation went into the meaningful use final rule," he said in prepared remarks e-mailed to DOTmed News. "While continuing to keep the bar high, it doesn't require breaking any world records. It moves us all in the same direction, improving the quality, safety and efficiency of health care. At Fallon Clinic we have an excellent Electronic Health Record (EHR) vendor, a highly competent IT department, and dedicated physicians and staff. As a result, we currently meet the new meaningful use requirements with the exception of one measure which we'll meet after a software upgrade in October. I'm confident that most physicians using systems from the leading EHR vendors will be able to satisfy these 2011/2012 requirements and achieve the goal of improving the care that we give to our patients."

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