By Dr. David B. Troxel

Using an electronic health record (EHR) and complying with meaningful use requirements can be frustrating in a busy medical practice. In the spirit of Health IT Week, it is important to be aware of applications that facilitate compliance and are integrated into the EHR workflow.

PDR+, an enhancement to existing EHR platforms, is one such application. It was developed by PDRNetwork, producer of Physicians' Desk Reference and a trusted source of drug information.
In order to obtain federal EHR incentives, physicians must distribute clinically relevant education and reminders to a minimum of 10 percent of their active patients and use secure messaging to communicate. The new requirements from Meaningful Use 2 (MU2) are:

--Use clinically relevant information from Certified EHRs to identify patient-specific education resources, and provide them to patients.
--Use secure electronic messaging to communicate with patients on relevant health information.
--Use clinically relevant information to identify patients who should receive reminders for preventive/follow-up care.

Few physicians have the time or resources to develop these educational materials. Physicians (and other providers) will, however, be responsible for the content of the educational information, so it is important that the materials come from trusted sources such as medical specialty societies. Third parties may also prepare educational materials, but, if the information is confusing, incorrect, or out-of-date (drug information changes frequently), it may create provider liability. The good news is that patient education has the potential to provide liability protection. Documenting in the EHR when the patient receives patient-specific and disease-specific educational information will contribute to the process of informed consent.

PDR+, which will be available at no cost to providers later this fall, facilitates compliance with a MU2 requirement that mandates delivery of patient-specific and clinically relevant educational and drug-safety materials directly to patients via the EHR patient portal or print. EHRs must provide this patient education capability to be certified by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology in order to be in compliance with MU2. The capability must be infobutton-enabled. An infobutton, which appears in the EHR as a small button or icon, is a healthcare informatics interoperability standard that makes relevant information immediately available to physicians within workflow.

Healthcare Act