“…Implement five clinical decision support rules relevant to specialty or high clinical priority, including for diagnostic test ordering, along with the ability to track compliance with those rules… …We propose to describe clinical decision support as a health information technology functionality that builds upon the foundation of an EHR to provide persons involved in care processes with general and person-specific information, intelligently filtered and organized, at appropriate times, to enhance health and health care.”

Does anyone know precisely what is meant by “Implement five clinical decision support rules?”

[From Evan Steele] It is not just the software that has to qualify for “meaningful use.” Each physician must earn the potential government incentives each year by meeting all 25 of the “meaningful use” measures that have been included in the proposed rule. SRS has done extensive analysis of the amount of time that it would take to meet and report on these measures and analyzed the cost of doing so. Using the productivity calculator (accessible on the upper right corner of the EMR Straight Talk page) you can value your physicians’ time, and will likely conclude that the cost of complying far exceeds the potential $44,000 return (an average of $8,800/year) from the government. The cost of this lost productivity is in addition to the $201,000 cost explained in my January 6th Straight Talk post, “The New Meaningful Use Rules: Is Participation Worth Your Time?”

I’ve been following your reports all along and I wanted to let you know how much we appreciate your steadfast and logical approach to the EHR maelstrom. Keep it up, we will prevail.

Meaningful Use? Do you use it everyday, has it replaced 90% of your paper charts and is it cost-effictive. Done.

Peter Hanson
Cardiovascular Associates
Wausau, WI 54401