Torrent of activity
This was the ninth annual Health IT Week and it was full of activity—from dueling legislation for Meaningful Use to launches of innovation centers and venture funds and calls for patient engagement and improved privacy and security efforts with new breaches to back the need.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services published a final rule on Aug. 29 that maintained a provision that requires providers to perform a full-year EHR reporting period in 2015. Outcry was swift and this week, Congresswoman Renee Ellmers (R-N.C.) and Congressman Jim Matheson (D-Utah) introduced the Flexibility in Health IT Reporting (Flex-IT) Act (Flex-IT Act) that aims to grant the nation's healthcare providers the additional flexibility in meeting Meaningful Use requirements through a shortened reporting period in 2015.
They said the legislation would ensure that healthcare providers receive the flexibility they need to successfully comply with MU.
The Flex-IT Act will allow providers to report their Health IT upgrades in 2015 through a 90-day reporting period as opposed to a full year.
With such a low rate of attestation for Meaningful Use Stage 2 to date, a high number of eligible hospitals need to be Stage 2-compatible by Oct. 1. Eligible professionals have more time but only 1.3 percent have met Stage 2 requirements at this point.
What’s your take? Do you support the Flex-IT Act?
Beth Walsh
Clinical Innovation + Technology editor
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.