Patient Engagement Via mHealth Will Be Key To Stage 3 Meaningful Use

With the Meaningful Use Stages 1 and 2 rules focused on electronic health records, healthcare industry observers are starting to look ahead to Stage 3 and its implications for mHealth.

Emerging mobile technologies hold enormous promise for healthcare, especially in the area of patient engagement, and that is where Stage 3 comes into play, according to a Jan. 21 blog by Chuck Parker, executive director of Continua Health Alliance, posted on the HIMSS website.

"While Stages 1 and 2 of Meaningful Use are primarily concerned with EHR implementation and clinical measures, the proposed measures for Stage 3 take on patient engagement," writes Parker. "If ONC's recommendations come to pass, Stage 3 will encourage medical practices and hospitals to enlist their patients to use health devices and apps, and to accept patient-generated data into EHRs."