Patient involvement is critical to success of Meaningful Use program

One of the major purposes of the federal program for the Meaningful Use of electronic health records is to produce improved clinical outcomes for patients. Providing patients access to their personal health information and having that information available to their families, caregivers and healthcare providers anywhere at any time is another core requirement of the Meaningful Use program. Bruce Henderson, national leader EHR/HIE Practice for PricewaterhouseCoopers, and Glenn Mitchell, MD, MPH, CPE, CMO of Sisters of Mercy Health System, emphasize the importance of patient involvement in complying with Meaningful Use. In addition, with the trend toward transparency in the industry, patients need to be involved with the IT systems, which are going to be the infrastructure that enables them to get information about their care and its appropriateness in order for them to make intelligent choices and for clinicians to deliver the highest level of satisfaction for their patients, he said.