Meaningful Use is Changing Healthcare

February, 2012 — You may be receiving questions from health care professionals regarding Meaningful Use. Now that 2014 has been set as the deadline for implementing Syndromic Surveillance, hospitals, physicians’ offices, and urgent care facilities must connect to a surveillance service in order to qualify for Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Records Incentive Programs.

Health Monitoring Systems is preparing a series of handouts intended to help you communicate the steps involved in implementing Syndromic Surveillance. As a public health professional, you understand the need to have easy access to health data—and we recognize that you may be facing challenges in communicating that message to facilities that have not yet connected to a surveillance system.

Over the next few months, we will be circulating additional information regarding upcoming deadlines and processes involved in complying with Meaningful Use regulations. In the meantime, please don’t hesitate to contact us with your questions.

HMS (http://www.hmsinc.com) is a privately held company specializing in healthcare data analysis. The company processes and analyzes health‐related data in real time via a Software‐as‐a‐Service (SaaS) approach. Using this approach, HMS enables clients to increase their understanding of regional health conditions, improve quality and efficiency, and ensure regulatory compliance.

The company’s EpiCenter™ system is a first of its kind community health surveillance system for public health. HMS collects and analyzes data from more than 500 healthcare facilities across the country.