MU opinions continue to stream in

It seems Meaningful Use will remain in the headlines each week, at least until Stage 3 is finalized. This week the Health Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) threw its suggestions into the hat.

HIMSS recommends launching Stage 2 Meaningful Use on-schedule and extending Year 1 of the Meaningful Use Stage 2 attestation period through April 2015 and June 2015 for eligible hospitals (EHs) and eligible providers (EPs), respectively. This would encompass 18 months in which EHs and EPs can attest to Meaningful Use requirements for one quarter.

The extra six months is “a brief amount of time when considering our ultimate and joint goal of successful implementation of health IT to support care coordination and healthcare transformation,” said Carla Smith, MA, HIMSS executive vice president.

Even as criticism and recommendations continue to stream in, a survey finds that the majority of physicians believe the cost of EHRs outweigh the benefits.

athenahealth’s fourth annual Physician Sentiment Index (PSI) includes 1,200 providers and found that independent doctors, who account for just over half of the physicians surveyed, are feeling the most pressure when it comes to industry change and requirements. In fact, 78 percent of all physicians surveyed said they are not optimistic about independent/small groups surviving. Independent physicians are more skeptical of the positive impact that EHRs have on patient care, a PSI trend that has gained momentum since 2010. Also, with the Affordable Care Act fueling the rise of accountable care organizations and other models that incent physicians and hospitals to reduce the cost of care, independent physicians remain skeptical of the benefits for them and their patients.

In other findings, more than 60 percent of providers believe the current healthcare climate is somewhat-to-very detrimental to care—a consistent trend over the past four years of the PSI survey. Nearly 60 percent of providers think the quality of medicine will decline over the next five years and more than half of providers do not believe government's involvement in healthcare will lower costs or improve outcomes.

Are the physiciains associated with your organization enthusiastic or skeptical of EHRs? Please share your experience.

Beth Walsh

Clinical Innovation + Technology editor