An Ontological Map for Meaningful Use of Healthcare Information Systems (MUHIS)

An ontological map of meaningful use of healthcare information systems (MUHIS) is the visualization of its requirements and practices using an ontology. We map (a) the Stages 1 and 2 meaningful use requirements set by the Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services (CMS) for Electronic Health Records (EHR), and (b) the current literature on meaningful use, to derive the ontological map of the requirements and practices respectively. The map is fragmented and incomplete. The results will focus attention on the gaps (a) in the requirements, (b) in practices, and (c) between requirements and practices, and highlight the bright, light, blank, and blind spots in MUHIS. These gaps should be (a) bridged if they are important, (b) ignored if they are unimportant, or (c) reconsidered if they have been overlooked. Feedback based on incremental ontological maps over time will help to continuously improve MUHIS