The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology last week released for comment a draft definition of "meaningful use" of electronic health records. Later this year, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will issue a proposed rule to clarify the definition, which hospitals and physicians must meet to be eligible for the more than $17 billion in health information technology funding under the 2009 "American Recovery and Reinvestment Act."

Hospitals that do not meet the definition by fiscal year 2015 will see a reduction in their Medicare market basket update. Critical access hospitals also not meeting the definition by FY 2015 will be paid less under Medicare. The preliminary definition calls for a timeline beginning in 2011 wherein meaningful use is linked to improving quality, safety, efficiency, care coordination, population and public health; reducing health disparities; engaging patients and their families; and ensuring adequate privacy and security protections for personal health information.

"The AHA is concerned that proposed requirements for 2011 may be too aggressive for most hospitals to achieve," said Don May, the AHA's vice president for policy. Comments are due by June 26 and should be no more than 1,000 words long. For more information, go to www.hhs.gov/healthit, and click on "Meaningful Use Comment Instructions," and see the AHA's "Special Bulletin" at www.aha.org.