Groups weigh in on problems with meaningful use, EHR tech
The inflexibility of the federal electronic health record (EHR) meaningful use program and the problems with certified EHR technology must be addressed before the program moves forward, physician organizations and others told a federal health IT panel last week. The AMA and other organizations, including the American Hospital Association, the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives, and the American College of Physicians, called on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Health IT Policy Committee Meaningful Use Workgroup to focus on fixing the problems with the program’s early stages before increasing the difficulty of requirements for Stage 3. The workgroup met to discuss its recommendations for Stage 3 requirements, scheduled to begin in 2017.
Among the organizations’ chief complaints were:
• A lack of flexibility in the requirements to demonstrate meaningful use • Shortcomings of EHR systems that make them less usable for physicians
• Failure of health IT vendors to supply required product upgrades on time
CMS and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT already have extended Stage 2 an extra year, through 2016, but the AMA and others are pressing for more substantive changes.
Source: AMA