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The HIMSS Electronic Health Record Association, a trade group for EHR software companies, has learned that the federal government by June 16 may publish criteria for the definition of "meaningful use" of electronic health records software.

The definition is important because the Medicare and Medicaid financial incentives mandated under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act require meaningful use of certified EHRs.

Publication of the criteria for the definition may be followed by a brief public comment period, during which time the federal government will be undergoing the rules development process. There is no indication yet when the rule will come out, but industry stakeholders have been expecting the rule by late summer or early fall, says Justin Barnes, chair of the association and vice president of marketing and government affairs for physician software vendor Greenway Medical Technologies Inc., Carrollton, Ga. ARRA mandates publication of a final meaningful use rule by the end of 2009.

The focus of meaningful use initially will be on ambulatory and inpatient EHRs, as those are the technologies everyone is familiar with, according to Barnes. The certification component of meaningful use may be based off "current" criteria, he adds. This signals the government may adopt significant components of the current structure of the Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology, he believes.

Further, federal officials indicate they initially may use criteria already in place for certified EHRs. That's because the government does not want to trigger vendor development to meet new criteria that could take up to 24 months and delay the incentive programs.

Quality reporting necessary to meet meaningful use requirements may likely be somewhat limited in 2011 and 2012, Barnes says, but expand in subsequent years.

--Joseph Goedert