10.25.11 On October 13, Westlake family practitioner Dr. Jody George became the first physician in the West Calcasieu area to perform a test on his EMR (Electronic Medical Records) system for meaningful use. Meaningful use is a new term being used in national health care reform, but it is one that will be heard more and more as the United States moves towards the projected 2014 completion date for the EMR system.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has been structuring its grants to result in meaningful and measurable outcomes in order to promote the goals of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, known also as the stimulus package or Hitech Act. The evaluation criteria for awards will include those that will have an impact on the measurement and likelihood of achieving these outcomes, including job creation and preservation. Read the entire article at the Sulphur Daily News.