Legislators call for shortened MU reporting period

Another effort to shorten the EHR reporting period for Meaningful Use in 2015 came in the form of a letter from 30 members of Congress—28 Republicans and two Democrats—to Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell.

The policy change is critical to ensuring that providers can successfully participate in the Meaningful Use program, say the legislators.

Congresswoman Renee Ellmers (R-N.C.) heads up the effort and wrote that the final rule published on Sept. 4 by HHS and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) offered flexibility in attesting for Stage 2 for the brief remainder of 2014 but upheld a provision for a full-year of reporting in 2015.

The latest data from CMS revealing that less than 35 percent of hospitals currently meet Stage 2 requirements, they argue, also proves that providers need a shortened reporting period. As of Dec. 1, just 1,681 hospitals and 16,455 eligible professionals (EPs) have attested to Stage 2 Meaningful Use.

“With such extremely low attestation rates, we are unclear why HHS maintains that healthcare providers, hospitals and physicians alike must perform a full-year EHR reporting period in 2015,” the letter reads. “Our constituents remain concerned that the pace and scope of change have outstripped the capacity of our nation’s hospitals and doctors to comply with program requirements. Unfortunately, the final rule, published by your department in the Sept. 4 Federal Register, disregarded recommendations made by the vast majority of healthcare stakeholders to allow a shortened reporting period in 2015. Instead, your department is requiring a full-year, 365-day reporting period of all providers in 2015.”

Ellmers, along with Rep. Jim Matheson (D-Utah), in September introduced the Flexibility in Health IT Reporting (Flex-IT) Act of 2014 which if passed would have mandated a 90-day reporting period in 2015 as opposed to a full year. The letter warns that a full-year reporting period will “complicate the forward trajectory of Meaningful Use and jeopardize the $25 billion in federal investment made to date.

“Immediate attention to these concerns is needed as the start of fiscal year 2015 marked the beginning of 365-day reporting period for hospitals and the full-year reporting requirement begins on January 1, 2015 for physicians,” the letter says.

Read the letter.