Sen. Alexander calls for MU delay

Beth Walsh | | Health Exec | EMR/EHR

Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) has called for a delay in the final rule for Meaningful Use Stage 3 until Jan. 1, 2017.

Alexander said at that time, Stage 3 requirements should be phased in at a rate that reflects how successfully the program is being implemented. Meanwhile, the modified rules proposed for Stage 2 of the program should be adopted immediately because it will help most doctors and hospitals to comply with the government’s requirements, he added.

“Patients need an interoperable system that enables doctors and hospitals to share their electronic health records, but the government, doctors and hospitals need time to do it right,” Alexander told a senate hearing. “Some hospitals have told me they are ‘terrified’ by the prospect of Stage 3. It does not help patients to make these massive changes fast and wrong. It does help patients to do this deliberately and correctly so that hospitals and doctors embrace the changes instead of dread them.”

After success with Stage 1, only about 12 percent of eligible physicians and 40 percent of eligible hospitals have been able to comply with Stage 2 because of the complexity of the reguations. “That is why the government should immediately adopt its proposed modifications to the Stage 2 requirements—so physicians and hospitals have time to adapt to these huge changes,” he said.

Citing the five hearings held on Meaningful Use, Alexander said many of those who testified urged a delay. 

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.

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