HIMSS conference gives CMS, ONC info on what providers need

ORLANDO--The Health Information and Management Systems Society annual conference offers members of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) the opportunity to feel the energy and buzz surrounding Meaningful Use, said Elizabeth Holland, director of the Health IT Initiatives Group at CMS, in an interview with Clinical Innovation + Technology News.

Now that people are implementing Stage 2, her office is receiving more in-depth questions. The implementation phase is when issues rise to the top and Holland and her team can help providers by prioritizing and issuing guidance.

“People are excited about Meaningful Use,” she said. It used to be all about the big vendors but she said she noticed all the smaller vendors in the exhibit that “have grown up to support hospitals,” she said.

Meaningful Use is having a “tremendous impact on the market,” she said.  Consolidation is inevitable. In some cases, big vendors with a wide range of products are winnowing down their offerings to “not breadth but in-depth” solutions. In other cases, vendors had to make a pretty big leap to meet certification criteria and not all of them were able to make that leap. The number of products certified to the 2014 edition criteria is much lower than those that were certified to the 2013 edition criteria, Holland said.

When asked about the letter from 48 provider organizations calling for more time to meet Meaningful Use requirements, Holland said such correspondence is helpful because it encapsulates the concerns that already have been discussed. She could not comment on any potential changes to the timeline, saying “it’s a minute-by-minute thing.”

However, CMS Administrator Marilynn Tavenner and new National Coordinator for Health IT Karen DeSalvo, MD, MPH, MSc, are working closely together, she said. And, DeSalvo went into the conference well aware of its magnitude although “it’s baptism by fire.”

Holland said ONC staff will be busy in coming weeks writing FAQs and guidance based on what they heard at the conference. She also noted that the office pays attention to all phone calls and emails and tries to be responsive. “Everyone deserves our attention.”