Summary overview of meaningful use objectives - core set

Core objectives comprise basic functions that enable EHRs to support improved health care. As a start, these include the tasks essential to creating any medical record, including the entry of basic data: patients’ vital signs and demographics, active medications and allergies, up-to-date problem lists of current and active diagnoses, and smoking status.

Objective: Record patient demographics (sex, race, ethnicity, date of birth, preferred language, and in the case of hospitals, date and preliminary cause of death in the the event of mortality)

Measure: More than 50 percent of patients' demographic data recorded as structured data.

Objective: Record vital signs and chart changes (height, weight, blood pressure, body mass index, growth charts for children)

Measure: More than 50 percent of patients two years of age or older have height, weight and blood pressure recorded as structured data

Objective: Maintain up-to-date problem list of current and active diagnoses

Measure: More than 80 percent of patients have at least one entry as structured data

Objective: Maintain active medication allergy list

Measure: More than 80 percent of patients have at least one entry recorded as structured data.

Objective: Record smoking status for patients 13 years of age of older

Measure: More than 50 percent of patients 13 years if age of older have smoking status recorded as structured data

Objective: For individual professionals, provide patients with clinical summaries for each office visit; for hospitals, provide an electronic copy of hospital discharge instructions on request

Measure: Clinical summaries provided to patients for more than 50 percent of all office vsits within three business days; more than 50 percent of all patients who are discharged from the inpatient department or emergency department of an eligible hospital or critical access hospital and who request an electronic copy of their discharge instructions are provided with it

Objective: On request, provide patients with an electronic copy of their health information (including diagnostic test results, problem list, medication list, medication allergies, and for hospitals, discharge summary and procedures

Measure: More than 50 percent of requesting patients receive electronic copy within three business days

Objective: Generate and transmit permissible prescriptions electronically (does not apply to hospitals)

Measure: More than 40 percent are transmitted electronically using certified EHR technology

Objective: Computer provider order entry (CPOE) for medication orders

Measure: More than 30 percent of patients with at least one medication in their medication ordered through CPOE

Objective: Implement drug-drug and drug-allergy interaction checks

Measure: Functionality is enable for these checks for the entire reporting period

Objective: Implement capability to electronically exchange key clinical information among providers and patient-authorized entitities

Measure: Perform at least one test of EHR's capacity  to electronically exchange information

Objective: Implement one clinical decision support rule and ability to track compliance with the rule

Measure: One clinical decision support rule implemented

Objective: Implement systems to protect privacy and security of patient data in the EHR

Measure: Conduct or review a security risk analysis, implement security updates as necessary and correct identified security deficiencies.

Objective: Report clinical quality measure to CMS or states

Measure: For 2011, provide aggregate numerator and denominator throught attestation; for 2012, electronically submit measures