AHA to HHS: 'Refrain' from finalizing MU Stage 3

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services must "refrain" from finalizing Meaningful Use Stage 3 until testing and refinement of standards can be conducted, the American Hospital Association writes in comments to HHS Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell.

"Success in achieving interoperability that is based on open-source, consensus-based standards is a precursor to proposed Stage 3 requirements, such as providing patients with access to their data via third-party applications, expanded public health reporting options and many others," AHA writes.

AHA is not the only group voicing serious concerns in its comments on the proposed rules. The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives says the proposals in Stage 3 are "unworkable."

In addition to the MU comments, AHA also wrote to National Coordinator for Health IT Karen DeSalvo on the ONC's health IT certification program. In the letter, the association says it supports the provisions in the rule to improve interoperability, as well as the creation of an infrastructure for health information exchange. However, AHA also urges ONC to "increase the transparency and reliability of certified health IT through robust testing, increased surveillance of products in the field and increased disclosure requirements on vendors." MUS3 comments (.pdf) and Certification Program comments (.pdf)