While we may tend to think of chiropractic EHR adoption and Meaningful Use (MU) Stage 2 reporting as one in the same — after all, both benchmarks require a measure of upgrading a practice's EHR needs — they really are two very different goals.

The former, which was tracked as part of MU Stage 1, merely requires physicians, clinics and hospitals make the jump from paper-based records to EHRs. While this is a pretty significant transition to make, it's also easy for the average provider to visualize and wrap their head around. There is a pretty clear and notable distinction between the look, function and value of paper medical records and electronic medical records.

But the move to Stage 2 is not as clear-cut, and as EHR Intelligence notes, that difference may actually be working against overall chiropractic EMR adoption rates. 

"Could Stage 2 slow EHR adoption? Absolutely. As part of a team supporting education for Stage 2 MU in our hospitals, I share the day-to-day frustrations with physicians as they are practically mandated to use technology that, at it's very best, takes time to log on, find the patient, search for an order, read through the patient's diagnostics with yet another system and then the application either freeze[s] or [loses] a server," one registered nurse and healthcare informaticist tells the source. "[...] The companies guiding these changes to meet government requirements are learning while implementing."

While there are undoubtedly growing pains associated with Stage 2 adoption, that's exactly what they are: growing pains. Further experience and education on topics like Meaningful Use, along with the best chiropractic EHR software to help more easily facilitate this transition, can help a clinic effectively implement and adopt these newer systems to both their advantage and their patient's.