Meaningful use care coordination criteria: Perceived barriers and benefits among primary care providers

Stage 2 and proposed Stage 3 meaningful use criteria ask providers to support patient care coordination by electronically generating, exchanging, and reconciling key information during patient care transitions.

A stratified random sample of primary care practices in Michigan (n = 328) that had already met Stage 1 meaningful use criteria was surveyed, in order to identify the anticipated barriers to meeting these criteria as well as the expected impact on patient care coordination from doing so.

The top three barriers, as identified by >65% of the primary care providers surveyed, were difficulty sending and receiving patient information electronically, a lack of provider and practice staff time, and the complex workflow changes required. Despite these barriers, primary care providers expressed strong agreement that meeting the proposed Stage 3 care coordination criteria would improve their patients' treatment and ensure they know about their patients' visits to other providers.

The survey results suggest the need to enhance policy approaches and organizational strategies to address the key barriers identified by providers and practices in order to realize important care coordination benefits.