Following Poor Meaningful Use Attestation Numbers, Pressure Mounts On HHS To Become More Flexible
The recently released EHR Meaningful Use Stage 2 Attestation numbers were predictably low. Most organisations are obviously struggling with meeting the complex electronic record keeping criteria and guidelines put forward by the Federal Government. But, the poor attestation numbers indicate that the transition to a paperless system might take longer than what the government initially thought.
Industry Leaders Urge HHS to Reconsider the Norms
Leaders in the healthcare industry are taking cue from these poor Meaningful Use Stage 2 Attestation numbers and they have taken this opportunity to point out to the Centres for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) how difficult it is to meet some of the provisions mentioned in the EHR programme. They are calling for the implementation of greater flexibility in the programme as well as for shortening the Meaning Use reporting period in 2015.
In fact, CMS had already extended the deadlines for Meaningful Use Stage 2 and Stage 3 back in August taking into consideration the fact that most of the Eligible Hospitals and Professionals are not in a position to meet the earlier deadlines. The Stage 2 of Meaning Use is now set to continue through 2016 and this leaves room for many organisations to start Meaningful Use Stage 3 in 2017.
But, these measures are not likely to assuage the concerns of the healthcare organisations, who are still finding it difficult to meet the Meaningful Use Stage 2 Attestation requirements. The fact that the Stage 2 reporting period is to set to become a year-long exercise in 2015 has further compounded the problem. CMS has decided to extend the Stage 2 reporting period to one year in light of the many changes they made to the EHR provisions. According to them, a proper evaluation of these changes would require a longer reporting period of one year.
But, this only makes matters more difficult for the healthcare organisations. They are now putting more pressure on CMS and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to reduce the reporting period for MU Stage 2 in 2015 to a more reasonable 90-day period. According to them, the poor MU Attestation numbers validate what they have been saying so far.
More and more organisations are now raising their concerns regarding the yearlong Stage 2 reporting period set to come into effect from January 1, 2015. So far, there are no indications from CMS that they are willing to reconsider this.
Industry Leaders Urge HHS to Reconsider the Norms
Leaders in the healthcare industry are taking cue from these poor Meaningful Use Stage 2 Attestation numbers and they have taken this opportunity to point out to the Centres for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) how difficult it is to meet some of the provisions mentioned in the EHR programme. They are calling for the implementation of greater flexibility in the programme as well as for shortening the Meaning Use reporting period in 2015.
In fact, CMS had already extended the deadlines for Meaningful Use Stage 2 and Stage 3 back in August taking into consideration the fact that most of the Eligible Hospitals and Professionals are not in a position to meet the earlier deadlines. The Stage 2 of Meaning Use is now set to continue through 2016 and this leaves room for many organisations to start Meaningful Use Stage 3 in 2017.
But, these measures are not likely to assuage the concerns of the healthcare organisations, who are still finding it difficult to meet the Meaningful Use Stage 2 Attestation requirements. The fact that the Stage 2 reporting period is to set to become a year-long exercise in 2015 has further compounded the problem. CMS has decided to extend the Stage 2 reporting period to one year in light of the many changes they made to the EHR provisions. According to them, a proper evaluation of these changes would require a longer reporting period of one year.
But, this only makes matters more difficult for the healthcare organisations. They are now putting more pressure on CMS and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to reduce the reporting period for MU Stage 2 in 2015 to a more reasonable 90-day period. According to them, the poor MU Attestation numbers validate what they have been saying so far.
More and more organisations are now raising their concerns regarding the yearlong Stage 2 reporting period set to come into effect from January 1, 2015. So far, there are no indications from CMS that they are willing to reconsider this.