How loud is loud enough?

The protests to the pace and structure of Meaningful Use (MU) are getting louder and louder. As has been predicted in the past, if the complaints grow loud enough the government will have to adjust to accommodate.

Can a coalition of 35 medical societies led by the American Medical Association hoping to see changes in the incentive program be loud enough?

The coalition sent a letter to National Coordinator for Health IT Karen DeSalvo, MD, MPH, MSc, saying the program is not working.

“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.”

With the proposed rule for Stage 3 looming, I for one am interested to see how this plays out.

Beth Walsh

Clinical Innovation + Technology editor