Industry groups differ on value of ONC's meaningful use proposals
The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) believes there is much more to applaud than criticize concerning the release of interim final rules on meaningful use and qualified EHRs from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC). However, the American Hospital Association (AHA) noted that while health IT holds “great promise in improving care, widespread efforts toward adoption will be hindered unless key provisions in these rules are addressed.”
“The goals of President [Barack] Obama’s Health IT for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) provisions included improvement in the quality and efficacy of healthcare delivered to Americans,” wrote H. Stephen Lieber, CEO for HIMSS. The release of these proposed regulations sets the U.S. towards a path to achieve these goals, he noted.
Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), only hospitals that are considered "meaningful users" of EHRs can receive much-needed financial assistance, AHA stated. The association added that the proposed definition of meaningful use is a “worthy goal, but it should be a destination point, not a starting point.”
Citing clarity of what technology functions constitute a qualified EHR, a multi-year road map of expectations and certainty of many standards necessary to support practitioners’ ability to improve patient care, the Chicago-based HIMSS said it looks forward to reviewing these drafts to provide analyses for their members and public comment responses for the federal government.
However, the AHA said that the rules released Dec. 30, 2009 create a “stringent definition” of meaningful use that doesn't recognize certain adoption efforts and would “unfairly penalize many hospitals.” Also, the new meaningful use rules fail to “recognize how modern hospitals are organized and how care is delivered…[because] the eligibility requirements for hospitals and physicians are too restrictive.”
In closing, Lieber acknowledged that there is much to do within healthcare regarding simple adoption before achieving meaningful use of IT.
“This foundational work…will likely result in provider uncertainty about which IT products to adopt, costs through adoption of ever-maturing IT over time, higher costs associated with a need to support multiple standards and somewhat delayed improvements in patient outcomes and costs,” Lieber concluded.
Conversely, the AHA statement concluded: “Unless significant changes are made and timelines reexamined, it is unlikely that the vast majority of hospitals can meet the proposed standards, making them ineligible for this important funding, and also subject to penalties for not being in compliance. We urge CMS to make changes to these regulations that would advance the adoption and use of clinical IT.”
“The goals of President [Barack] Obama’s Health IT for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) provisions included improvement in the quality and efficacy of healthcare delivered to Americans,” wrote H. Stephen Lieber, CEO for HIMSS. The release of these proposed regulations sets the U.S. towards a path to achieve these goals, he noted.
Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), only hospitals that are considered "meaningful users" of EHRs can receive much-needed financial assistance, AHA stated. The association added that the proposed definition of meaningful use is a “worthy goal, but it should be a destination point, not a starting point.”
Citing clarity of what technology functions constitute a qualified EHR, a multi-year road map of expectations and certainty of many standards necessary to support practitioners’ ability to improve patient care, the Chicago-based HIMSS said it looks forward to reviewing these drafts to provide analyses for their members and public comment responses for the federal government.
However, the AHA said that the rules released Dec. 30, 2009 create a “stringent definition” of meaningful use that doesn't recognize certain adoption efforts and would “unfairly penalize many hospitals.” Also, the new meaningful use rules fail to “recognize how modern hospitals are organized and how care is delivered…[because] the eligibility requirements for hospitals and physicians are too restrictive.”
In closing, Lieber acknowledged that there is much to do within healthcare regarding simple adoption before achieving meaningful use of IT.
“This foundational work…will likely result in provider uncertainty about which IT products to adopt, costs through adoption of ever-maturing IT over time, higher costs associated with a need to support multiple standards and somewhat delayed improvements in patient outcomes and costs,” Lieber concluded.
Conversely, the AHA statement concluded: “Unless significant changes are made and timelines reexamined, it is unlikely that the vast majority of hospitals can meet the proposed standards, making them ineligible for this important funding, and also subject to penalties for not being in compliance. We urge CMS to make changes to these regulations that would advance the adoption and use of clinical IT.”