Medicare EMR Guidelines and Regulations

Medicare requires electronic medical records by 2015.

EMR stands for electronic medical records and represents a major effort by the U.S. government to get physicians, hospitals and other medical care professionals to convert their medical records to electronic form to reduce errors and to avoid unnecessary tests and treatments.

Requirement

Medicare has established guidelines for the conversion of medical records to electronic form. The guidelines provide three stages for the conversion process, which must be completed by 2015.

Benefits

To facilitate the conversion to electronic medical records, Congress has authorized billions of dollars in grants to help health-care professionals and businesses offset the costs of the records conversion. These grants will begin in 2011 for those who have made "meaningful use" of electronic medical records.

Warning

Health-care professionals who fail to meet the Medicare guidelines will suffer the loss of Medicare funds. In other words, doctors and hospitals who fail to convert to electronic medical records and to make meaningful use of those records will no longer be able to seek Medicare payments for their medical services.

References

• Computer World: What final 'meaningful use' rules on EMRs mean for doctors, hospitals; Lucas Mearian; July 14, 2010