What Everyone’s Saying About the Meaningful Use Requirements

Here’s a roundup of some of the reaction to the new rules, which loosened the requirements somewhat from the draft version:

Association of American Medical Colleges: While the AAMC praises relaxation of some of the requirements, it “remains concerned” that “it may be unrealistic for some teaching hospitals and faculty physicians” to meet the requirements in two years. In a statement, the group also says it had hoped that eligibility would be determined by hospital systems, not individual hospitals. (Each hospital in a multi-hospital system must qualify on its own to receive incentives.)

American Hospital Association: The group also says even the looser requirements may make it tough for hospitals to qualify. It criticizes the individual hospital requirement, and says that “the rule requires hospitals to immediately use Computerized Provider Order Entry (CPOE),” which it calls complicated, costly and time-consuming.

Allscripts, a health IT company: Leigh Burchell, the company’s director of government relations, tells the Health Blog that the shift from a mandated list of at least 23 requirements to a more flexible approach is “the most momentous” change from the draft version. She also says reporting requirements for things not captured in an electronic health record have eased, making things “much more user friendly” for providers. The role of ER personnel in meeting the requirements has also been clarified, for the better, she says.

Kern Medical Center, Bakersfield, Calif.: CEO Paul Hensler tells the Health Blog he’s “pleasantly surprised” by the more flexible approach. “It really lets each hospital customize its approach according to its needs and abilities,” he says. This will likely help hospitals with the capital to invest to focus on and implement a smaller set of requirements in order to qualify for incentives.

Deloitte Consulting: Mitch Morris, national leader of health IT, notes in an e-mail that he was surprised that there’s no word yet on when the third stage of requirements will be announced. (The next wave of stage 2 requirements will be announced in late 2011.)

NextGen, a medical software company: Charlie Jarvis, vice president of healthcare services and government relations, says the looser requirements will “help the provider community adapt more quickly,” but that some levels of compliance were still kept pretty high, at the 80% level. (Get 78% of patients and you don’t meet the requirement.) In addition, he says it may be tough for some clients to be ready to go for the next set of requirements if they aren’t released until late next year.

Reid Conant, emergency physician, Tri-City Medical Center, Oceanside, Calif.: Conant, chief medical informatics officer for his med center’s emergency group, wishes there had been a requirement that detailed physician notes be part of a patient’s electronic medical records. Without such a physician narrative requirement, he fears the records will “be reduced to point-and-click documents” that don’t distinguish between patients.