Radiologists Feel Lack of Clarity in Meaningful Use Guidelines

KLAS and RNSA have partnered up to determine radiologists major concerns regarding MU (meaningful use) and what types of guidelines they felt would be beneficial to the practice of radiology. In the new survey of 216 radiologists, nearly 40 percent of participants expressed their concerns about the lack of clarity in MU (meaningful use) or decreased efficiency as a result of adopting current MU guidelines. The study entitled, “Radiologists’ Take on Meaningful Use: a KLAS-RSNA Report” features broad spectrum of feedback of radiologists across the U.S. including hospital based, private practice, and academic medical centers.

Some of the highlight findings include:

• 60 percent of the surveyed radiologists eith er plan to or are considering qualifying for MU
• 25 percent say they are very involved in making decisions regarding MU
• 6 percent considered themselves to be educated regarding MU 
• 25 percent of respondents felt their vendors was not prepared to help them meet MU requirements

Since radiologists do not feel that the current MU guidelines do not take radiology into consideration, survey participants felt compelled to provide the guidelines they felt would be beneficial to radiology such as CDS (Clinical Decision Support) to reduce the amount of unnecessary and costly imaging. Emily Crane, KLAS research director and author of this report said, “We hope that this feedback from radiologists can serve as a guide for the Office of the National Coordinator for HIT and those in Washington who are currently addressing Stage 2 and Stage 3 guidelines. Radiologists would like guidelines that are more appropriate for their practice of radiology.”

The study, “Radiologists’ Take on Meaningful Use: a KLAS-RSNA Report,” is available to healthcare providers for a significant discount off the standard retail price. To purchase, healthcare providers and vendors can visit www.KLASresearch.com/reports.