Meaningful Use Comments Set Stage for Next Health IT Policy Meeting

Health IT Policy Committee is meeting next week as they continue to discuss the definition of "meaningful use". There were over 900 comments transmitted to the Office of the National Coordinator. If you want a copy of these comments, you can physically go to the ONC starting July 13.

Some commenters have made their comments available. For example, the Computer & Communications Industry Association agreed that for meaningful use to truly be meaningful, the definition must include administration, not just actual health care. The "nightmare" of today's paper-based system of bills and claims, it said, means "that even when our citizens receive the medical care they need, they cannot understand what treatment they received, what they were billed, what was covered, and what they owe." "Meaningful use" should cover administration "down to the individual practice level," it said.

Source: Leslie Cantu, Meaningful Use Comments Set Stage for Next Health IT Policy Meeting, Washington Internet Daily, Today's News (July 7, 2009)