The Meaningful Use program has simplified the process of educating physicians and treating patients through the implementation of electronic health records. Doctors and patients can access their information from any tablet, smartphone or computer to provide easy communication.
However, the lack of interoperability for health information exchange hinders any progress toward a cohesive health care system. New proposed legislation hopes to solve this problem.
New bill enters Congress
The Ensuring Interoperability of Qualified Electronic Health Records proposal comes as a response to the 2009 Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act. Many members of Congress have their qualms about HITECH and its lack of success in implementing the EHR system, GovInfoSecurity reported. The new bill, drafted by Rep. Michael Burgess of Texas, presents new ways to reach EHR interoperability.
The proposed plan abolishes the current committees – Health IT Standards and Health IT Policies – in favor of an overarching 12-person Charter Organization, which will work with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to establish interoperability criteria for EHR software. The committee would be composed of Congress-appointed members, including doctors, insurers, EHR developers and other stakeholders, according to the source.
Burgess' bill calls for a new means of establishing qualified EHRs. The criteria includes providing access to patients' data from any EHR without restrictions to authorized users, ensuring information is available from one location and allowing multi-interface communications. EHR software providers would have until 2019 to meet these standards or face being decertified by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT.
Revision to previous law
According to the Brookings Institution, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' Meaningful Use program has prompted approximately 50 percent of medical professionals in the U.S. to implement EHR software. However, it still faces criticism from both the federal government and health care providers.
With the MU program, there is no specific criteria for health information exchange and only 25 percent of users achieved Stages 1 and 2, EHRIntelligence reported. The software has not been easy to implement in medical facilities. Ensuring Interoperability of Qualified Electronic Health Records would ensure there are defined standards for meeting the system's protocols.
MU has also proved to be more expensive than initially thought. Of the $35 billion budget, $28 billion has already been spent without EHR interoperability being enforced, according to the source. Savings for the program were anticipated to top $12.5 billion. However, the system is expensive to adopt, limiting any extra funds.
While CMS' MU program began the process of EHR software implementation, it has not provided the expected results. Burgess foresees his new bill creating a widespread, easy-to-use EHR system.
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