Developing a Plan for Monitoring Electronic Health Record's Meaningful Use Among Ambulatory Care Organizations

Designing a plan to monitor the adoption of EHR among ambulatory care organizations in California, identifying the barriers to EHR adoption and the achievement of meaningful use.

Principal Investigator: Diane Rittenhouse, MD, MPH
Funding: California Department of Health Care Services, California HealthCare Foundation

The University of California, San Francisco collaborated with DHCS staff and other key stakeholders to conduct a landscape assessment of the use and promotion of EHRs and HIT in organized health systems in California, by reviewing the published literature regarding the use and promotion of EHRs and HIT in organized health systems in California, including but not limited to managed care organizations, independent practice organizations, group practices, clinics, federal facilities, and hospitals. In addition to the literature review, the investigators reviewed pending studies and surveys addressing EHR and HIT use and promotion in organized health systems in California. UCSF created an inventory based on this review, identifying strengths and weaknesses both in terms of methodology and scope of the issues and populations addressed.

The research team compiled the data into a briefing document on the current state of knowledge regarding EHR and HIT use in organized health systems in California and recommendations for monitoring and strengthening the knowledge base in the future. OHIT incorporated elements of this narrative for inclusion in the State Medicaid Health Information Technology Plan (SMHP) and the Implementation Advanced Planning Document that DHCS will submit to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for the Medi-Cal EHR Incentive Program. The report is available from the author.