Are the standards for meaningful use and certification real? Maybe. Will they be changed? Likely. Do they mean much until we have a concrete reform package, have somebody who is the decider, and have absolutes on interoperability? I think not–others disagree.  Does interoperability throw everything out the window?  Count on it.

Should healthcare providers wait? No. Here’s what I recommend.

1. Work to define a precise and quantifiable set of business problems you want to solve with an EHR.
2. Make those requirements a part of a detailed functional RFP.
3. And so forth…

Make a decision on what it will do for you, not based on how well it fits a moving target.

After all, how much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck?