AHA says meaningful use rule doesn't go far enough
The American Hospital Association (AHA) says it is worried that, even with the recent changes, the standards in the meaningful use rule may be impossible for some hospitals to meet.
In a statement released after the final rule, the AHA noted that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) made some important improvements. However, the AHA "remains concerned that the requirements may be out of reach for many of America's hospitals."
From its initial review, the AHA said it is pleased that CMS has provided some additional flexibility for hospitals in the criteria to become meaningful users of EHRs. CMS rightly recognized the special role that critical access hospitals play in their communities by providing needed access to Medicaid funding under this rule, the AHA says. CMS also removed some unnecessary administrative burdens that would have been time-consuming and costly for hospitals, without improving patient care, the group says.
"Unfortunately, CMS continues to place some barriers in the way of achieving widespread IT adoption by our nation's hospitals and physicians," the AHA writes. "In particular, individual hospitals in multi-campus settings are unfairly excluded from incentive payments. Hospitals within a health care system should each be eligible for incentives. Additionally, we are concerned this rule may adversely impact rural hospitals and the patients they serve and exacerbate the digital divide in health care. We also are concerned that the rule requires hospitals to immediately use Computerized Provider Order Entry [CPOE], which can be complicated, costly to implement, and takes time to do right."
In combination with the certification process, which penalizes early adopters by requiring them to upgrade or replace already functional systems, these rules limit how quickly hospitals can adopt a certified EHR that can benefit patient care, the AHA says.
"We continue to be concerned that, given limited vendor capacity and workforce shortages, many hospitals will not have timely access to certified products, since no certified EHR systems are available today," the AHA writes.
EHRs can limit errors, improve care and increase efficiency, the AHA says, but for hospitals to realize the promise of EHR systems, much planning and deliberation are needed up front.
"The promise and intent of Congress and the president was to provide needed funding to hospitals and physicians with the goal of spurring adoption of EHRs," the AHA writes. "Hospitals strongly share that goal, but today's rule raises some serious concerns and needs to be further evaluated to determine its impact on hospitals and the communities they serve."
The American Hospital Association (AHA) says it is worried that, even with the recent changes, the standards in the meaningful use rule may be impossible for some hospitals to meet.You have reached your article limit for the month. Subscribe now to access this article plus other member-only content. TESTING
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