Confused by All the Acronyms!?

While recently researching the Meaningful Use Stage 2 requirements, I found myself googling various acronyms for clarity, despite being fairly familiar with EMR/EHR lexicon.  It made me wonder how many folks out there might appreciate having a handy dandy acronym guide as they navigate the often confusing world of Meaningful Use.  Be on the lookup for an updated list in the near future, but for now, here are the basics:

MU: Meaningful Use

EMR: electronic medical records

EHR: electronic health records

EP: eligible professional, meaning that one qualifies to participate in the HITECH program

HITECH:  Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act

HIT: health information technology

CMS: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

ARRA: American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009

This is the law that created MU as part of the federal government’s stimulus plan.

CQMs: Clinical Quality Measures

CAH: critical access hospitals

PQRS: (previously PQRI) Physician Quality Reporting System

PQRI: Physician Quality Reporting Initiative

MIPPA: ePrescribing, processing prescriptions electronically

ONC-ACTB: Authorized Testing and Certification Body (PIMSY Platinum 5.0 is ONC-ACTB Meaningful Use Certified by the Drummond Group, Inc).  CCHIT is now also authorized to provide ONC-ACTB MU certification.

PQRS was established as part of The Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006 (TRHCA). It started as a voluntary bonus payment for eligible professionals for reporting PQRI to Medicare beginning July 1, 2007, through 2014. The recently-passed Patient  Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) will require mandatory reporting in 2015 (and into the future) and also changes the name to the Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS).