Healthcare management consulting firm Beacon Partners, Inc. today unveiled its Meaningful Use Analysis and Recommendations Report which includes an Organizational Readiness Road Map with advice on how to complete a Readiness Assessment.

“Healthcare organizations are confused as they have been hearing a lot of differing opinions about meaningful use lately,” says Ralph P. Fargnoli, Jr., president and CEO of Beacon Partners. “Our independent report is based on many years of expertise and truly cuts through the clutter and provides real and actionable advice on what meaningful use is and how healthcare organizations can create an Organizational Readiness Road Map to make it happen.”

“However, we acknowledge that the incentives and timelines will not work for many healthcare organizations but our advice is to focus their strategy on doing it right the first time, regardless of the federal timeline.”

“The adoption of patient flow technologies, such CPOE, ePrescribing, Web portal technologies and clinical decision support are critical, yet pose a substantive challenge toward attaining meaningful use,” explains Kevin Burchill, director of Beacon Partners and author of the Meaningful Use Report. “Historically, research shows that 50-80% of EHR projects fail. The healthcare community needs to realize that the exchange of patient health information through Health Information Exchanges (HIEs) will play a key role to providing reliable outcomes that will enable clinicians to make decisions relative to patient care.”

In addition to meaningful use analysis, the report provides an overview of an Organizational Readiness Road Map. It provides an outline as to how to avoid speed bumps on the journey to meaningful use, and advises healthcare organizations to complete a Readiness Assessment that takes into account: Strategy, Structure, Systems/Workflow and Savings.

“Meaningful use, measures, stages and incentives are all important, but should not be the main reason why the healthcare community takes the adoption of HIT seriously,” concludes Fargnoli. “Most importantly, it’s the right thing to do for a healthcare organization’s patient care quality and safety.”

To download a copy of Beacon Partners’ Meaningful Use Analysis and Recommendations Report please go to: http://www.beaconpartners.com/services_offerings/ARRA_HITECH_Resource_Center.htm.

About Beacon Partners

As the largest independent healthcare management consulting firm in the country, Beacon Partners is chosen by organizations in the Healthcare Community to provide expertise in the adoption of information technology to improve overall operational and financial performance. With their strategic approach and depth of experience, Beacon Partners is uniquely qualified to help organizations navigate the challenges in healthcare and optimize their potential to deliver the highest possible level of patient care. This proven approach allows healthcare organizations to maximize their Enterprise Yield™ – the alignment of people, processes and technologies – with the important understanding that success depends on the ability to adapt quickly to issues pertaining to clinical transformation, revenue cycle management, interoperability, workflow optimization, EHR implementation and more. As the HITECH portion of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 becomes a priority to healthcare organizations, Beacon Partners’ ARRA expertise helps organizations develop a roadmap that will lead to “meaningful user” status and maximize available incentives.

For more information, please visit http://www.beaconpartners.com and Beacon Partners’ special healthcare information portal, http://www.spotlightonhealthcare.com.