Orgs. band together to fight MU

If there is strength in numbers, a coalition of 35 medical societies led by the American Medical Association hopes to see some changes in the Meaningful Use (MU) incentive program.

The coalition sent a letter to National Coordinator for Health IT Karen DeSalvo, MD, MPH, MSc, saying the program is not working and recommending seven changes to improve EHR certification.

“Among physicians there are documented challenges and growing frustration with the way EHRs are performing,” the groups wrote in a nine-page letter. “Many physicians find these systems cumbersome, do not meet their workflow needs, decrease efficiency and have limited, if any, interoperability. Most importantly, certified EHR technology can present safety concerns for patients. We believe there is an urgent need to change the current certification program to better align end-to-end testing to focus on EHR usability, interoperability, and safety.”

MU certification requirements are contributing to EHR system problems with “downstream effects” on patient safety, they wrote. Also, providers are prioritizing MU certification “at the expense of meeting physician customers’ needs, patient safety and product innovation.” The coalition is concerned about the “lack of oversight ONC places on authorized testing and certification bodies for ensuring testing procedures and standards are adequate to secure and protect electronic patient information contained in EHRs.”

The certification process lacks necessary security measures to protect patient information, according to the coalition, which offered the following recommendations:

• decoupling EHR certification from the MU program;
• re-considering alternative software testing methods;
• establishing greater transparency and uniformity on user centered design (UCD) testing and process results;
• incorporating exception handling into EHR certification;
• developing consolidated clinical document architecture (C-CDA) guidance and testing to support exchange;
• seeking further stakeholder feedback; and
• increasing education on EHR implementation.