AMA leads coalition fighting MU

Medical associations are continuing their fight against Meaningful Use (MU), citing the poor rate of success with Stage 2.

Led by the American Medical Association, a coalition of 111 medical societies sent letters for congressional leaders urging them to intervene and refocus MU Stage 3.

In the letter to House and Senate lawmakers, the coalition said that Stage 2 has "largely been a failure, with only 12 percent of physicians successfully participating and little improvement in data exchange across care settings."

The Obama administration has not responded to past feedback, choosing instead "to perpetuate the current failed program through the release of Stage 3," the groups wrote. "What has emerged from this morass of regulation is a system that relegates physicians to the role of data entry clerks".

The coalition asked Congress to refocus MU to achieve a "truly interoperable system of EHRs that will support, rather than hinder, the delivery of high quality care."

MU success "hinges on a laser-like focus on promoting interoperability and allowing innovation to flourish as vendors respond to the demands of physicians and hospitals rather than the current system where vendors must meet the ill-informed check-the-box requirements of the current program," the coalition wrote.