Whether or not the system meets the criteria for meaningful use, which as the National Coordinator sets forth for Health means the difference between receiving government incentive payments or fines. Starting in 2011 the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare will offer the incentives to those doctors showing meaningful use, but having an electronic health record system isn’t enough.

The doctors will have to demonstrate that their system meets each of the meaningful use criteria, and currently there are 25 different things the system and physician must do in order to meet the meaningful use criteria. They must perform things such as e-prescribing, computerized physician order entry, and they must meet stringent security requirements.

Itis no wonder that physicians are hesitant to purchase an electronic health record system. What if it doesn’t meet the criteria?

In fact, physicians have good reason to worry, considering that the Health and Human Services Department recently created a meaningful use workgroup to explore adjusting the requirements for meaningful use. Many physicians and hospitals felt that the criteria and period were impossible for most physicians to meet.

To that end, the workgroup recommended eliminating six meaningful use measures, but that is still subject to further review by the HHS. Therefore, who could blame a physician for waiting to install a healthcare system.

This week Sage Healthcare Division took steps to eliminate some anxiety over meaningful use by announcing a meaningful use guarantee for their EHR Product Suite. The Sage EHR Product Suite includes Sage Intergy EHR, Sage Intergy Practice Analytics Quality Measures Edition and Sage Intergy Practice Portal.

The guarantee assures users that they will meet the certification criteria for meaningful use. Sage also promises to modify the product to maintain compliance. Which means the doctor can spend less time worrying about compliance and more time treating patients.