Top MU obstacles, measuring EHR ROI

2014 should be a big year for Meaningful Use (MU) with many healthcare providers scrambling to meet the Stage 2 requirements. Vendors will be working hard to meet their customers’ needs and a recent survey helps pinpoint the biggest challenges.

The clinical summary measurement, the required security risk analysis and patient smoking status reporting are the top MU challenges, according to a study published in Medical Care, the Journal of the Medical Care Section of the American Public Health Association.  

The study is the first nationwide assessment of MU challenges and is based on data collected from 55 regional extension centers throughout 2012, reporting more than 19,000 issues from more than 43,000 providers. Others issues noted were provider engagement, vendor selection, administrative practices issues, delays in implementation/installation and practice workflow adoption.

Meanwhile, a proposed model released by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) seeks to help hospitals and health systems assess the ROI on EHR adoption.

The model specifically evaluates institutional investment in EHRs and related technologies to enable inter-organizational comparisons, help identify best implementation approaches and prioritize process redesign efforts.

“Given that most organizations have already invested in health IT to satisfy the requirements of Meaningful Use, the ability to compare the financial returns, or lack thereof, from these projects across organizations has the potential to illuminate opportunities to reduce the ongoing cost of maintaining these systems,” wrote the authors.

Which MU requirements are the biggest hurdles for your organization? And will you use the IOM's model to measure the return on your investment? Please share your thoughts.

Beth Walsh

Clinical Innovation + Technology editor