The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has a nifty online tool to help leaders of hospitals and physician groups, and other eligible professionals keep track of the meaningful-use criteria they must meet to qualify for the upcoming Stage 2 of the electronic health-record incentive payment program.
For both hospitals and physicians and other eligible professionals, the site lists all the relevant core and menu objectives as well as the clinical quality measures that make up the Stage 2 criteria. It also enables a provider to select the objectives and clinical quality measures they intend to use and download copies of them and their descriptions in spreadsheet, PDF or XML formats.
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The application of health information technology in primary-care settings can improve the quality of care, but it's no magic wand for quality improvement, according to a report on two dozen grant programs funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
The report found the use of health IT coincided with greater adherence by providers to processes related to evidence-based care recommendations and improvements in patients' overall health status, as well as improved clinical outcomes for patients with chronic diseases if coupled with other workflow changes, among other findings.
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