When looking to adopt and implement electronic health record technology, medical facilities have a range of vendors to choose from. However, the product itself must be certified through standards established by the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT.
The Meaningful Use program from the CMS has come under fire recently for its stringent timeline that puts considerable restrictions on the usage of certified EHR technology. Providers originally had to utilize the 2014 Edition CEHRT for the reporting period of the EHR incentive programs, which distributed financial incentives to physicians for their efforts, including radiologists working in medical imaging. But many industry stakeholders – doctors, nurses, developers and so on – were not adequately prepared to follow the 2014 guidelines.
“Vendors are not ready, no subject matter experts are available to implement upgrades. Products are not fully-baked. Providers are frustrated,” said Mandi Bishop, president of FloriDATA Foundation, quoted by HealthcareITNews.
Clinical Innovation and Technology reported that the CMS and ONC proposed a new rule on certification that would introduce more flexibility with the Meaningful Use program. Rather than rely solely on the 2014 Edition, physicians can now use the 2011 Edition CEHRT or a combination of the 2011 and 2014 Edition CEHRT for the 2014 reporting period. Because the products were certified later than expected, doctors had difficulty navigating the Meaningful Use requirements with out-of-date EHR software.
Starting in 2015, all eligible medical facilities would be required to report using the 2014 Edition CEHRT.
Stages officially extended
Late last year, the CMS announced plans to extend stage 2 of Meaningful Use into 2016 and delay the start of stage 3 until 2017. While the criteria of the final stage remained in development, providers who had at least two years of stage 2 participation could start stage 3 in 2017. Much of the arguments against Meaningful Use dealt with the rigid timelines that kept doctors on a stiff track to completion.
“The agencies have proposed a new model for the remainder of 2014 that should go a long way toward relieving some of the time crunch eligible professionals and hospitals are experiencing, and help them continue the march toward meaningful use of EHRs and health care transformation,” said Tom Leary, Health Information and Management Systems Society’s vice president of government relations, quoted by HealthcareITNews.
By finalizing the new rule, health care specialties, such as diagnostic radiology, could have the flexibility needed to optimize newly developed technology for the improvement of quality of care and health outcomes. Additionally, Meaningful Use would be more successful as more providers would have an easier time attesting to the program.
Since their inception, the EHR incentive programs have given out payments to more than 370,000 hospitals and practices, Clinical Innovation and Technology explained. The hope is that the Meaningful Use extensions and leniency on certified EHR software will ensure that providers can continue success in the program and keep momentum moving forward with health care reform.
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