48 provider orgs seek MU flexibility, extension

Dozens of industry associations have united to lay out a case for more time and flexibility in the Meaningful Use (MU) program to ensure its success.

Forty-eight organizations signed off on a letter to Health & Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius that underscores MU’s invaluable role in advancing technology adoption among hospitals and physicians, but states that strict adherence to current program requirements endangers overall success of the EHR program, disrupts providers’ healthcare operations and potentially jeopardizes patient safety.

“Given that we have just celebrated the anniversary of HITECH, we can look back at the last five years with great pride and take stock of how far we’ve come–-as an industry and as a nation,” said CHIME President and CEO Russell P. Branzell. “But we must look ahead and recognize the immense work in front of us. Now is the time to make much-needed course corrections to ensure that we continue this success well past HITECH’s tenth anniversary.”

One of the biggest concerns has been not providers' ability to keep pace but vendors' ability to update their products to meet MU requirements. “It is clear the pace and scope of change have outstripped the ability of vendors to support providers,” the letter reads.

Just providing the technology isn't enough. “Providers need adequate time to learn how to use the newly deployed technology,” the letter said, noting that implementing EHRs has wide implications for staffing, workflow and care delivery practices. “If providers move forward, as dictated by the current policy, our concerns regarding rushed implementations are heightened. Furthermore, we believe that an ‘all or nothing’ approach-–where missing a single objective by even a small amount results in failure for the program year–-compounds our concerns.”

The current structure of the system essentially leaves providers with two options, said Branzell. “Providers will either abandon any hope of meeting Meaningful Use criteria this year, or they’ll be forced to implement a system more rapidly than they would otherwise. The first option works against everything the federal program has sought to achieve over the first two years, while the second option is inefficient and endangers patient safety.”

The letter seeks an extension through 2015 for providers to implement 2014 Edition Certified EHR software, and meet program requirements for either Stage 1 or Stage 2. It also requests flexibility in the scorecard used to assess completion of MU requirements to enable as many providers as possible to successfully meet program requirements.