Perspectives on care coordination and meaningful use in the emergency department setting

Abstract

Although the emergency department (ED) has not been a focus for Meaningful Use (MU) efforts in Stage 1, the care coordination objectives for Stage 2 and proposed updates in Stage 3 have implications in the ED setting. More information about how these MU objectives affect the ED setting is needed. To learn more about MU in the ED, we conducted semi-structured interviews with a variety of stakeholders in the EDs of two academic medical centers. These interviews were designed to elicit information about the utility and feasibility of the objectives in the ED setting, electronic health record (EHR) changes needed to facilitate meeting the objectives, and ways to change them. The interviews were coded using NVivo. Perspectives were consistent within and across both EDs. Suggestions included a modified medication reconciliation process and the importance of automated notifications and care summary transmissions.