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Achieving the Health IT Objectives of the
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
A Framework for 'Meaningful Use' and 'Certified or Qualified' Electronic Health Records
Health IT Provisions Under ARRA:
Four Critical Strategic Areas
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), working with other areas of government, must set a strategic course for the health IT provisions of ARRA. In doing so, it must set its sights on overarching health improvement objectives and then coordinate and sequence the necessary activities to achieve them, including:
- Issuing regulatory and technical guidance on the new privacy and security provisions of ARRA. (See Section 1.)
- Establishing a definition of meaningful use that achieves the strategic objectives set forth by ARRA. (See Section 2.)
- Establishing clear metrics for demonstrating meaningful use to achieve health improvement goals set forth by ARRA, and fostering broad participation and adoption by a diverse range of clinicians and practices. (See Section 3.)
- Interpreting "certified or qualified EHR technology" to mean a wide array of health IT tools and communications technologies that fully support the goals of meaningful use, and focusing on those technical standards and certification processes that are necessary to achieve and demonstrate meaningful use. (See Section 4.)
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