Henricks Walter H
Center for Pathology Informatics, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Institute, L21, Cleveland Clinic, 9500 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44195, USA.
J Pathol Inform. 2011 Feb 11;2:7. doi: 10.4103/2153-3539.76733.
Electronic health records (EHRs) have emerged as a major topic in health care and are central to the federal government's strategy for transforming healthcare delivery in the United States. Recent federal actions that aim to promote the use of EHRs promise to have significant implications for laboratories and for pathology practices. Under the HITECH (Health Information Technology Economic and Clinical Health) Act, an EHR incentive program has been established through which individual physicians and hospitals can qualify to receive incentive payments if they achieve "meaningful use" of "certified" EHR technology. The rule also establishes payment penalties in future years for eligible providers who have not met the requirements for meaningful use of EHRs. Meaningful use must be achieved using EHR technology that has been certified in accordance with functional and technical criteria that are set forth a regulation that parallels the meaningful use criteria in the incentive program. These actions and regulations are important to laboratories and pathologists for a number of reasons. Several of the criteria and requirements in the meaningful use rules and EHR certification criteria relate directly or indirectly to laboratory testing and laboratory information management, and future stage requirements are expected to impact the laboratory as well. Furthermore, as EHR uptake expands, there will be greater expectations for electronic interchange of laboratory information and laboratory information system (LIS)-EHR interfaces. Laboratories will need to be aware of the technical, operational, and business challenges that they may face as expectations for LIS-EHR increase. This paper reviews the important recent federal efforts aimed at accelerating EHR use, including the incentive program for EHR meaningful use, provider eligibility, and EHR certification criteria, from a perspective of their relevance for laboratories and pathology practices.
电子健康记录（EHRs）已成为医疗保健领域的一个主要话题，并且是联邦政府在美国转变医疗服务提供方式战略的核心。近期旨在促进电子健康记录使用的联邦行动有望对实验室和病理实践产生重大影响。根据《健康信息技术经济与临床健康法案》（HITECH），已设立了一项电子健康记录激励计划，通过该计划，个体医生和医院如果能“有效使用”“经认证的”电子健康记录技术，就有资格获得激励付款。该规定还对未达到电子健康记录有效使用要求的符合条件的提供者在未来几年设定了付款处罚。必须使用根据与激励计划中的有效使用标准类似的法规所规定的功能和技术标准进行认证的电子健康记录技术来实现有效使用。这些行动和法规对实验室和病理学家而言出于多种原因很重要。有效使用规则和电子健康记录认证标准中的若干标准和要求直接或间接与实验室检测和实验室信息管理相关，预计未来阶段的要求也会对实验室产生影响。此外，随着电子健康记录的采用范围扩大，对实验室信息的电子交换以及实验室信息系统（LIS）与电子健康记录接口的期望也会更高。随着对实验室信息系统与电子健康记录的期望增加，实验室将需要意识到它们可能面临的技术、操作和业务挑战。本文从与实验室和病理实践的相关性角度，回顾了近期旨在加速电子健康记录使用的重要联邦举措，包括电子健康记录有效使用的激励计划、提供者资格以及电子健康记录认证标准。
