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BUSINESS FEATURE Cleveland Area Physicians and Hospitals Among the First if you are in the medical profes- sion, when you hear that phrase, you will almost ref lexively associate it with health information technology (HIT), because HIT adoption has been identified by groups and individuals, both public and private, as a critical, foundational step in building a 21st century healthcare model that will meet our nation's expanding and evolving medical needs. And while it might seem as if this national focus on HIT adoption is a fairly recent development — along with the associ- ated regulations and stimulus-related reimbursement funds that are so much a part of how the phrase "meaningful use" has come to be understood in its contemporary context — many sources identify the goal of providing elec- tronic medical record access to every S OMETIME DURING THE past couple of years, a new phrase entered the medical lexicon: "meaningful use." Today, American as beginning when the Offi ce of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology was originally chartered by President George W. Bush as part of the Department of Health and Human Services on April 27, 2004. Following nearly a year of energeti- cally promoting the enormous positive potential of electronic medical record technology, then President Bush visited the Cleveland Clinic in January of 2005, where, during a "town hall" meeting, he discussed how government agencies and private health providers could coordinate their efforts toward adopting electronic health information technol- ogy systems to improve patient care, and potentially lower healthcare costs. In July of 2009, President Barack Obama also visited the Cleveland Clinic, where he saw practical examples of how clinicians and health information tech- nology professionals work together as part of an integrated, multi-disciplinary, HIT-enabled group practice. to Achieve and Attest to 'Meaningful Use' Compliance In much the same way that the broad adoption and use of integrated HIT systems by providers and patients has been a priority of two presidential administrations, the application of electronic medical record technology as an integral part of Cleveland Clinic's medical practice model has been happening for over a decade. But if the "phase one" measures for "meaningful use" compliance were only released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) in July of 2010, how could work that was undertaken over 10 years ago result in Cleveland Clinic's inclusion among the fi rst providers in the nation to meet and attest to "meaningful use" compliance? And how does that work impact the physicians practicing in Northeast Ohio, and their patients? The answer, as it turns out, can be found in the deeper meaning of "meaningful use," and in the struc- ture of Cleveland Clinic's model of medical practice. MDNEWS.COM SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2011 MD NEWS Cleveland-Akron-Canton | 41 PHOTOS COURTESY OF CLEVELAND CLINIC