Documenting stage 1 and 2 meaningful use criteria: A comparison of clinical pharmacists with other healthcare providers

Purpose. Documentation of Stage 1 and Stage 2 Meaningful Use (MU) criteria for patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus between clinical pharmacists and other healthcare providers was compared. Methods. Patients seen at 8 clinics in a federally qualified health center who had type 2 diabetes mellitus and were seen by clinical pharmacists or other healthcare providers were randomly selected for inclusion in this retrospective study. Approximately half of the encounters were evaluated for Stage 1 MU compliance (encounters from October through December 2014), and half were evaluated for Stage 2 MU compliance (encounters from January through March 2015). Categorical and descriptive variables were analyzed by calculating frequencies and percentages. Chi-square tests were used to compare groups with an a priori level of significance set at 0.05. Results. A total of 790 patients were seen by 46 providers, 8 (18%) of whom were clinical pharmacists. The study also included 24 medical doctors, 8 family nurse practitioners, 1 physician assistant, and 5 doctors of osteopathic medicine. Other healthcare providers more consistently documented 5 Stage 1 MU criteria than did clinical pharmacists. Clinical pharmacists more consistently documented 2 core objectives than did other healthcare providers. Otherwise, no significant differences in documentation were detected. Conclusion. Other healthcare providers more consistently documented 5 Stage 1 MU criteria than did clinical pharmacists. Clinical pharmacists more consistently documented 2 core objectives than did other healthcare providers.