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ONC launches state meaningful use challenge
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted April 15, 2013
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology unveiled an initiative aimed at increasing participation in the meaningful use incentive program by encouraging states to compete with one another.
The State Meaningful Use Acceleration Challenge 2.0 builds off a 2012 challenge that focused on physician adoption of electronic health records. Challenge 2.0 will focus on increasing adoption among all those who are eligible for the incentive program, including physicians, hospitals and rural health care organizations. The challenge will evaluate state by state how many new eligible professionals and hospitals qualify for the incentives in 2013. States are encouraged to set their own goals to challenge stakeholders in their communities and encourage them to expand their partnerships with one another.
In 2012, the ONC set a goal of having 100,000 eligible professionals qualify for the incentive pay. It surpassed the goal in June 2012. More than 210,000 had received payment by January 2013. Kentucky, Maine and Ohio were recognized for their notable roles in this accomplishment.
