Many docs apply for 'meaningful use' of electronic health record payments, but few will pass muster

Medpage Today: Most Docs Won't Qualify For EHR 'Meaningful Use'
Two-thirds of office-based physicians plan to apply or have already applied for meaningful use incentives for using electronic health records (EHRs), a government survey found. However, only about a quarter have computer systems that support Stage 1 meaningful use objectives -- a prerequisite for receiving the incentives. Physicians must meet all 15 of the Stage 1 core objectives to qualify for meaningful use incentives as of 2012, along with a few other requirements. "Among physicians who had already applied or intended to apply for incentives, 27 percent had EHR systems capable of supporting 13 of the Stage 1 core objectives for meaningful use, which is an overestimate of the percentage meeting the 2012 requirements," according to a report released this week from the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics (Pittman, 12/7).