You say "po-tay-to," I say "po-tah-to."

It often seems that the old song could be applied to any number of policy discussions, and it appears applicable once again to the latest news concerning the use of CPOE among hospitals.

More to the point, what seems to be open to interpretation is whether “meaningful use” is successfully leading more providers to incorporate CPOE into their practices.

According to this article, a report from the KLAS research group shows that “more providers are adopting computerized physician order entry (CPOE) as a result of the Medicare and Medicaid incentive programs for meaningful use of electronic health records.”

This observer, on the other hand, while conceding that the KLAS report does indeed show an increase, looks at the fact that the report “means that nearly four in five hospitals did not yet have CPOE last year.”

Not surprisingly, there is probably value in both perceptions. But for policymakers, it may be better to consider more closely the reasons why four in five hospitals still don’t have CPOE.

For one thing, while the report does show an increase, it only looks at the last couple years, so it may be that those providers who’ve moved to CPOE at least partially in response to MU may simply be classic early adopters.

But beyond that possiblity, we’d suggest observers and policymakers alike should be wary of reading long-term policy success into what may be largely an initial burst of energy on the part of providers who, MU or not, were already heading steadily into the digital future.