On October 17 2011, Ministry Saint Clare’s Hospital in Weston and Ministry Saint Joseph’s Hospital in Marshfield received confirmation that their electronic medical record systems have received Meaningful Use certification. This makes Ministry one of only 17 hospital systems in the country to receive full certification for their hospital electronic medical record systems.
Hospitals and clinics nationwide are working to meet meaningful use criteria with many using vendor products that obtain certification. Ministry Health Care pursued self-certification for Ministry Saint Clare’s and Ministry Saint Joseph’s to verify that its set of tools could collectively meet all of the requirements.
"While many or even most hospitals will wait for their vendors to provide certified products for them to install, it does seem surprising that so few of the over 5,000 hospitals in the United States have not gone through the self certification process," said Steve Pelton, Vice President of Enterprise Applications at Ministry Health Care.
Meaningful Use grew out of the HITECH provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), a national initiative to improve patient care quality, safety and coordination while keeping the patient record secure. The meaningful use rule established a number of stringent certification criteria that hospitals and software vendors must meet to prove their electronic medical record systems have all the necessary functions and capabilities.
"We understand that certification was a necessary step, but most importantly meeting this criteria has helped us make sure our electronic health record supports us in providing the best, most coordinated care to our patients," said Colleen Hoerneman, Vice President of Patient Care Services at Ministry Saint Clare’s Hospital.
Next, the hospitals need to show they use their certified electronic medical record technology in a meaningful way. After demonstrating compliance for a 90-day reporting period, Ministry Saint Clare’s Hospital and Ministry Saint Joseph’s Hospital will be able to attest that they have met all necessary requirements.
For a list of certified hospitals and clinics, visit the Certified HIT Product List (CHPL) at: CHPL Website