Physician Interview: Pursuing EHR Meaningful Use Incentives

Healthcare IT News, August 5, 2011

BEI Commentary: Don’t listen to us – here is some good practical information about EHRs and Meaningful Use from a solo practioner.

A 24-year veteran, Patrick Golden, MD, practices medicine in Fresno, Calif. Recently, he successfully steered his solo practice through Stage 1 meaningful use attestation. In the following interview with EHRWatch, he offers guidance to other physicians hoping to receive federal incentives through meaningful use.

EHRWatch: What was your initial reaction to meaningful use?

Dr. Golden: From the very day I heard of the program, I knew we — our practice — were going to do this. Absolutely, there was no doubt. We had purchased the Sage Intergy EHR in 2009, and it has been a wonderful asset to the practice. A robust system is vital to your success. We’ve greatly benefited from the dashboard measuring meaningful use progress and the analytics program used to collate and track data. Those two tools made the entire process so much simpler than it would have otherwise been. Read More