'Meaningful use' to spur health care IT spending

The concept of "meaningful use"—first introduced a year ago as part of the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act—appears to be spurring an increase in health care information technology (IT) spending along with a brightening economy, according to results of the 21st Annual Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) Leadership Survey. Although criteria for meaningful use won't be established until later this year, nearly three-fifths (59 percent) of the 398 respondents to this year's survey say they plan to make additional investments to position themselves to qualify for the incentives, the HIMSS survey data show.

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