‘MEANINGFUL USE’
Halamka Advises No Waiting for Physicians & Hospitals
John Halamka is knee-deep in the issues of Electronic Health Records from his CIO jobs and his national committee roles, and it’s worth paying close attention to what he says and blogs. In his September 21, 2009 post on his Life as  Healthcare CIO blog, Halamka clearly states “Meaningful Use is complete for 2011 and you’ll find the finished matrix online.” (See below.) Halamka then outlines the three stages coming in 2009, and concludes that you should buy a EHR or hosted solution with qualifications he futher outlines.

Final Meaningful Use Objectives and Measures 2011-2013-2015
Matrix–August 2009 (pdf)
from Health IT Policy Committee Recommendations to National Coordinator of Defining Meaningful Use

While ONC site labels above Augsut 2009 matrix as “final meaningful use objectives and measures” for three years, only the 2011 recommendations to the ONC are complete, and they are subject to additional approval process by ONC, HHS, and CMS. It’s likely that only inability of CMS to process some of the measures in a timely basis could impact implementation in 2011 or first year of implementation by physician or hospital. The Policy Committee still needs to finalize the 2013 and 2015 criteria in this matrix before they make a final recommendation for those years.

ONC Meaningful Use Overview
ONC Meaningful Use Documents Page
          Documents from ONC, CMS, HIT Policy and Standards Committees, and National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics (NCVHS).