To the relief of many providers, the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) has announced its intent to delay the start of Stage 2 of the Meaningful Use requirements of electronic health records (EHR) from 2013 to 2014, reports FierceEMR.
Under current rules in the Medicare EHR Incentive Programs, providers that participate in the program this year would have to satisfy Stage 2 standards in 2013, whereas providers who waited until 2012 to participate wouldn't have to satisfy requirements until 2014--a prime reason for some providers to hold off attesting in Stage 1 until 2012. Therefore, with the HHS postponement, the regulatory agency encourages providers to adopt EHRs faster. Under the proposed delay, providers who attest to Stage 1 of Meaningful Use this year will not have to meet Stage 2 criteria until 2014, a welcome change to many healthcare organizations and professionals.
The move to delay the start of Meaningful Use isn't all that surprising. National Coordinator of Health IT Farzad Mostashari in July had endorsed the one-year postponement in the criteria for receiving government EHR incentives.
Hospitals should note, though, the postponement will come too late to attest this year. Eligible hospitals and physicians that begin participating this year still would have to meet new standards for the program in 2013; the last date on which they could do so was Nov. 30, FierceEMR reports.
But, according to the HHS statement, "doctors who act quickly can also qualify for incentive payments in 2011 as well as 2012."
Under the HITECH ACT, the Medicare EHR Incentive Programs incentivizes providers with payments to use health IT meaningfully, which offers the touted benefits of better patient care and savings, according to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.
What has the reaction been to the program thus far? Physicians' adoption of health IT has doubled in the past two years, according to a HHS report released yesterday, but Sebelius cautioned that even with great strides comes room for improvement.
"We're making great progress, but we can't wait to do more. Too many doctors and hospitals are still using the same record-keeping technology as Hippocrates," Sebelius said. "Today, we are making it easier for health care providers to use new technology to improve the health care system for all of us and create more jobs."
To help move the EHR adoption along, HHS also is providing education and training to Medicare eligible professionals who have registered in the EHR incentive program but haven't met Meaningful Use requirements yet.
For more information:
- read the press release
- read the FierceEMR article
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