Mobile Will Be Essential To Meeting MU Stage 2, Improving Care Coordination

We’ve heard talk for years about patient engagement, but not a whole lot of real progress. Mobile technologies are about to change that, with a substantial boost from Stage 2 of the “meaningful use” EHR incentive program.

To meet Stage 2 requirements, starting in 2014 (or the second year after initially getting to Stage 1),  providers must share patient records with affiliated hospitals and physicians for 65 percent of patient transitions and referrals they handle. This must include 10 percent of transitions outside their organizations to providers using an EHR system from a different vendor.

Also, hospitals and physician practices alike must give 50 percent of their patients the ability to view and download their own medical records through online portals, up from 10 percent in Stage 1. And, perhaps most significantly, 5 percent of patients actually have to log in to those portals for doctors and healthcare organizations to achieve meaningful use.