06/24/2013    Michael Brody, DPM

EHR Hi Tech Audit (Ken Schenley)

Mr. Schenley states that Certified Technology is
not for everybody. I strongly disagree. The first
thing we each need to understand is that
Meaningful Use is NOT about us as doctors,
Meaningful Use is about us as patients and all of
the patients that we treat. Meaningful Use has
been designed to be a benefit to patients on each
and every level. As a result of this focus, there
are tools available to us to allow us to have
more information at our fingertips to make better
clinical decisions at the point of care for
example alerts when we prescribe medications that
might interact with other medications that a
patient is taking. But let us look at the “BIG”
picture.

With Meaningful Use, whenever a patient travels –
and this may include you or one of your family
members, should they become ill their medical
information will be available to the treating
provider to allow the best possible treatment.
The extreme case is if somebody is involved in an
accident and they are not able to provide
information on their medical history, important
information that may make a difference between
life and death. This is just one of many examples
I could cite on how Meaningful Use is important
for patients.

In addition to this example, there are many good
business reasons to have Certified Technology and
Meet Meaningful Use, Sending and Receiving
electronic referrals, Sending e-prescriptions and
receiving electronic prescription renewal
requests, and Electronic Submission of Medical
Documentation which helps to speed the claim
adjudication process. Once again I could provide
many more examples.

I encourage each and every one of the readers of
this post to go home at the end of the day and
look at their family and think about what
Meaningful Use could possibly mean to each and
every person you love. Then think very carefully
about your decision and whether or not you want
to meet Meaningful Use in your practice.

Disclosure: I am the Chief Compliance Officer
for ICS Software, developer of Sammy EHR

Michael Brody, DPM, Commack, NY,
mbrody@tldsystems.com

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