With the U.S. elections over and President Obama retaining the White House (along with Democratic majority in the Senate), it appears that Meaningful Use is here to stay. Earlier in the year, the Supreme Court upheld the most controversial parts of the new healthcare laws as well.
But what does this mean? It's been clear from the beginning that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) does not view Meaningful Use as a one-time program. Instead, it views it as an ongoing initiative that will define healthcare information technology for the forseeable future. This was evident when the new guidelines this year were styled as a "2014 edition" rather than "Stage 2". In not numbering the requirements, HHS is making clear that we can expect many future iterations to be published.
What other clinical decision support functions can we expect CMS and ONC to add to the guidelines in the future? If we look to existing EMR and EHR functionality as a guideline, here are some possibilities:
- Drug-disease or drug-food interaction checking
- Dose-range checking
- Separate interactions checking for pediatric and adult patients
- Separate patient education for pediatric and adult patients
- Patient education in the language spoken by the patient
- Ability to e-prescribe controlled substances
These functions are already possible with the drug and reference data available from such vendors as Lexicomp and Medi-Span. Some EMRs and EHRs are already implementing this functionality, which is allowing them to get ahead in a competitive marketplace.
Don't fall into the trap of just keeping up with federal requirements! Only by looking to the future can you meet the needs of clinical users and create real value for your product.
