Is time on our side?

Less than one week ago, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a final rule that that provides flexibility in how healthcare providers can use certified EHR technology (CEHRT) for the 2014 EHR Incentive Program reporting period.

Calling the rule's provisions "a welcome relief,” John D. Halamka, MD, CIO of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, said the ecosystem needs more time.

Under the final rule, eligible providers can use the 2011 Edition CEHRT or a combination of 2011 and 2014 Edition CEHRT for an EHR reporting period in 2014 for the EHR incentive program. The rule also finalizes the extension of Stage 2 through 2016 for certain providers and announces the Stage 3 timeline, which will begin in 2017 for providers who first became meaningful EHR users in 2011 or 2012, according to CMS.

All eligible professionals, eligible hospitals and critical access hospitals are required to use the 2014 Edition CEHRT in 2015.

The added flexibility will allow providers to participate and meet Meaningful Use (MU) objectives like drug interaction and drug allergy checks, providing clinical summaries to patients, electronic prescribing, reporting on key public health data and reporting on quality measures, according to the agency.

"We listened to stakeholder feedback and provided CEHRT flexibility for 2014 to help ensure providers can continue to participate in the EHR incentive programs," said CMS Administrator Marilyn Tavenner in a statement. "We were excited to see that there is overwhelming support for this change."

Other feedback was not so positive. The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) President and CEO Russell P. Branzell said he was “deeply disappointed” in the decision made by CMS and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT to require 365 days of EHR reporting in 2015.

“This single provision has severely muted the positive impacts of this final rule. Further, it has all but ensured that industry struggles will continue well beyond 2014,” he wrote.

Halamka noted one concern--“the rule notes that Stage 1 criteria can be used by those on Stage 2 timelines for ‘Only providers that could not fully implement 2014 Edition CEHRT for the EHR reporting period in 2014 due to delays in 2014 Edition CEHRT availability.’ Although certified products may have been introduced into the marketplace, the time to implement, train and ensure safe use exceeded the Stage 2 time limits.”

Time is something we can all use more of.

Beth Walsh

Clinical Innovation + Technology editor