EHR meaningful use criteria, and other HITECH Act regulations

EHR meaningful use criteria, and other HITECH Act regulations

This tip lists the major rules that health IT professionals must know, names the federal agency that drafted each one, and indicates when it will go into effect.

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The HITECH Act established an accelerated plan for hospitals and other health care providers to adopt electronic health record (EHR) systems and other technology to improve patient care and reduce medical errors. The HITECH Act also set in motion a series of rules -- from EHR meaningful use criteria and health IT certification to data breach notification and patient data security -- that will govern the way health IT is implemented, then used in the United States. 

 

What
Agency
Status
Effective
Notes
EHR meaningful use criteria for health IT(Stage 1)
 CMS1 Proposed Summer 2010 Must comply by 2011 or 2012 to receive maximum reimbursement.
EHR meaningful use criteria for health IT (Stage 2)
CMS1
Proposed by end of 2011
Summer 2012 (expected)
First payment year is 2013.
Standards and certification of EHR technology
ONC2
IFR3
Now
EHR software must comply to be certified.
Health IT certification
ONC2
Proposed
Now, temporarily
Permanent program to be established.
Electronic prescribing of controlled substances
DEA4
IFR
Now
Also covers dispensing and recordkeeping.
HITECH Act breach notification
OCR5
IFR
Now
OCR guidance updated annually.
HITECH Act enforcement
OCR5
IFR
Now
Business associates now HIPAA6-covered entities.

1CMS: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
2ONC: Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT
3IFR: Interim Final Rule
4DEA: Drug Enforcement Agency
5OCR: Office for Civil Rights
6HIPAA: Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996

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This was first published in May 2010

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