Workgroup continues to parse meaningful use
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The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) requires hospitals and physicians to demonstrate meaningful use of EHRs to qualify for Medicare and Medicaid incentive payments.
The work group released its initial draft recommendations last month.
Jodi Daniel, director of the Office of Policy and Research said ONC received 790 public comments on meaningful use over a 10-day period in June, Healthcare IT News reported. Daniel said that comments showed support for the improved health outcomes approach endorsed by the ARRA.
Many of those who commented were concerned over the stringent time constraints, which will require providers to establish and meaningfully use health IT by next year. Specialty physicians were concerned the rules will not be specific to their scope of practice.
For the new recommendations, the work group revised objectives for EHRs to meet by certain deadlines Health Data Management reported. The revised 2011 criteria call for qualified healthcare providers to:
- Allow patients to access their health records in a timely manner;
- Develop capabilities to exchange health information where possible;
- Implement at least one clinical decision support rule for a specialty or clinical priority;
- Provide patients with electronic copies of discharge instructions and procedures;
- Submit insurance claims electronically; and
- Verify insurance eligibility electronically when possible.
The group also called for healthcare providers to allow all patients to access personal health records by 2013, two years earlier than under the initial recommendations. In addition, the revised recommendations include an objective for all providers to participate in a national health data exchange by 2015.
The workgroup also clarified criteria related to computerized provider order entry (CPOE) systems. The new recommendations call for healthcare providers to use CPOE systems for 10 percent of all orders of any type. However, the workgroup did not offer guidance on whether the 10 percent requirement would apply to each individual order type or all orders in total.
In addition, the new recommendations clarify how violations of the HIPAA medical privacy rule could affect incentive payments. The workgroup recommended that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) withhold incentive payments from healthcare providers until HIPAA violation charges are resolved.
The revised meaningful use recommendations now go to the ONC and other Health and Human Services (HHS) units. HHS will use the recommendations to help shape regulations regarding the federal incentive programs, and is expected to release a proposed rule by the end of this year.