Rep. Renee Ellmers (R-N.C.) reintroduced a bill (HR 270) that would shorten the meaningful use reporting period in 2015 from 365 days to 90 days, Health Data Management reports.

The industry news is full of disparaging talk about the health of the EHR Incentive Programs (i.e., meaningful use), particularly the low number of Stage 2 attestations. While some statistics show that only 35% of the nation's hospitals have met Stage 2 meaningful use requirements, further analysis reveals a different story.

The usability of the system is the probably most important factor in making an informed choice of which EHR to use for your practice. Most every bit of software says that it is easy to use, but how can you choose an EHR that is actually usable?

Regulation of electronic health records and the implementation of ICD-10 are among the top issues for physicians to watch in 2015, according to a list published by the American Medical Association, FierceHealthIT reports (Hall, FierceHealthIT, 1/7).

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT has released the first draft test scenario for assessing the real-world usability of electronic health record systems under Stage 2 of the meaningful use program, Modern Healthcare reports.

As of Sept. 30, CMS had paid out more than $25 billion in incentive payments to eligible hospitals and professionals participating in the meaningful use program, according to the latest CMS data, FierceEMR reports (Durben Hirsch, FierceEMR, 11/4).

The federal government continued to implement the HITECH Act, enacted as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, during the third quarter of 2014. As implementation of HITECH's programs begin to wind down, more than $25 billion in incentive payments have been made to providers to spur electronic health record adoption, and more than 90% of eligible hospitals and 75% eligible professionals have adopted and are using EHRs as a result.

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT clarified that Karen DeSalvo will be "maintaining her leadership of" the agency while she serves as acting HHS assistant secretary for health, Modern Healthcare's "Vital Signs" reports (Conn, "Vital Signs," Modern Healthcare, 10/28).

Health IT stakeholders appear split on how former National Coordinator for Health IT Karen DeSalvo's departure will affect future health IT initiatives, FierceHealthIT reports (Bowman, FierceHealthIT, 10/24).

A coalition of health care organizations sent a letter to HHS Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell recommending that the agency overhaul the meaningful use program with a focus on interoperability, Healthcare IT News reports.

CMS announced that about 44,000 health care providers submitted hardship exemption applications for the meaningful use program before the July 1 deadline, Bloomberg BNA reports (Ruoff, Bloomberg BNA, 9/30).

Join ONC's Mike Lipinski on Thursday, October 2, 2014 from 1pm – 2pm EDT for a webinar focusing on the ONC 2014 Edition Release 2 final rule. The presentation will provide an overview of the 2014 Edition Release 2 Final Rule, alternative 2014 certification criteria and approaches, certification program updates and new resources!

Sign up now, it's free!

https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6141078466728250625

A report compiled by the MITRE Corporation to guide thinking on nationwide interoperability is inadequate and outdated, according co-chairs of a joint federal health IT taskforce, Healthcare IT News reports (Miliard, Healthcare IT News, 9/4).

The American Medical Association released a framework outlining eight priorities for making electronic health records easier for providers to use, Modern Healthcare reports (Conn, Modern Healthcare, 9/16).

Our Chief Experience Officer, Bennett Lauber, has been invited to participate as a member of the Health IT Policy Committee’s Implementation, Usability, and Safety Workgroup.

The draft charge for the workgroup is:

The Health IT Implementation, Usability, and Safety Workgroup will provide input and make recommendations on policy issues and opportunities for improving how health IT is designed, certified, implemented and used to minimize safety risks and leverage data to support improvements in patient care and health outcomes.

The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society sent a letter to HHS Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell arguing that a recent final rule that requires a full year of reporting for the meaningful use program in 2015 is "unrealistic" and could cause pro

Ambulatory providers are growing concerned about their ability to meet Stage 3 of the meaningful use program, with confidence levels in meeting such requirements falling from 33% in 2012 to 25% in 2014, according to a recent HIMSS Analytics study, FierceEMR reports.

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT issued a new final rule on the 2014 certification criteria for electronic health records that offers more flexibility and drops proposed 2015 voluntary criteria,

Safety-Enhanced Design

ONC proposed a “safety-enhanced design” (SED) certification criterion for the Proposed Voluntary Edition that was unchanged as compared to the 2014 Edition certification criterion.

ONC did, however, solicit public comment regarding whether ONC should modify the certification criterion. Specifically, ONC requested comment regarding whether:

The 2014 Edition Release 2 EHR Certification Criteria (2014 Edition Release 2) final rule adopted ten optional 2014 Edition EHR certification criteria and two revised 2014 Edition EHR certification criteria that provide flexibility, clarity, and enhance health information exchange. The final rule also made a few improvements to the ONC Health IT (HIT) Certification Program and removed outdated regulation text from the Code of Federal Regulations.