At long last: Stage 2
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“We’ve stayed the course,” said Mostashari, adding that a lot of the proposed rule is the result of listening to and learning from Stage 1 feedback. The three biggest drivers of the proposed rule are patient engagement, information exchange and clinical decision support.
“We’ve seen a remarkable increase in the adoption of EHR technology for outpatient providers and hospitals,” but exchange of information is still lacking. By 2014, when Stage 2 is in effect, “we’ll see a big push for standards-based exchange, because we can’t wait another five years.”
There is going to be a push on patient engagement, he said, as well as continuous quality improvement. “We take very seriously the president’s executive order to increase flexibility and decrease regulatory burden. We tried to be as flexible as possible.”
To that end, the proposed rule includes a plan for a dynamic EHR model. Steven Posnack, MHS, director, federal policy division, Office of the National Coordinator of Health IT (ONC), also spoke during HIMSS.12 about this new model, which includes a base EHR that will meet 2014 ER certification criteria as well as core and module EHRs. Providers can meet the definition of a base EHR with either a complete EHR or a combination of module EHRs. “There is not a specific, finite construct,” he said, referring to the ONC’s effort to offer flexibility and decreased regulatory burden.
Providers need only use EHR technology with the capabilities of meaningful use core set objectives and measures for the stage of meaningful use they seek to achieve unless they can meet an exclusion. “No longer is the definition of EHR technology built to set, 100 percent criteria. Rather, it is driven by the meaningful use stage the provider needs to meet. The market needs to react and vendors need to supply different pathways.”
What do you think of the regulations included in the proposed rule for Stage 2? Please share your thoughts.
Beth Walsh
CMIO Editor
bwalsh@trimedmedia.com
Beth Walsh,
Editor
Editor Beth earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism and master’s in health communication. She has worked in hospital, academic and publishing settings over the past 20 years. Beth joined TriMed in 2005, as editor of CMIO and Clinical Innovation + Technology. When not covering all things related to health IT, she spends time with her husband and three children.