1. First things first… Why is Patient Safety & Quality the Driver of Meaningful Use? Georgia Rural HIT Conference Paul Moore, DPh

2. American Recovery and Reinvestment Act “the Stimulus Bill” Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act, or HITECH Act $19.2 Billion Electronic Health Records (EHR) “Meaningful Use” milestones required to receive the stimulus funding!

3. “Meaningful Use” is NOT just about getting the money! (or avoiding penalties!) However…

4. “How can it be that… a checked bag on an airline flight is still exponentially safer than a patient in an American hospital? In fact…there may be a better reason….

5. 20 years ago… my first airplane (VFR) Navigation technique = “Dead Reckoning” 2 years later… Instrument Rating (IFR) (but I still mainly just flew in good visual weather) My current airplane (GPS and XM-Wx) Enhanced “Situational & Environmental Awareness” An analogy from my own flying experience…

6. 1.Technology provides a readily available source of critical information. Observations: “Meaningful Use” (in flying and patient care)

7. 2.Readily available information is crucial to safety and quality outcomes! Observations: “Meaningful Use” (in flying and patient care)

8. 3.Meaningful use means more than just having technology installed and running. Observations: “Meaningful Use” (in flying and patient care)

9. 4.Meaningful Use requires as much attention to people and process as it does to the technology. Observations: “Meaningful Use” (in flying and patient care)

10. 5.Meaningful Use means we are using information in ways that measurably improves outcomes. Observations: “Meaningful Use” (in flying and patient care)

11. 6.Meaningful Use involves: Planning of goals and objectives; Workforce, workload, and workflow issues; Implementation and evaluation of process changes; Tracking and communicating outcomes. Observations: “Meaningful Use”

12. Meaningful Use impacts more than just your facility: Imagine an air traffic system… Meaningful use must be “universal”. One final point…

13. “Meaningful Use” the RIGHT THING For the RIGHT REASON.

14. Thank you.