Is Government Health IT Program Overreaching?

Ever since the government announced it would offer financial rewards of $44,000 to $64,000 to each physician who could show “meaningful use” of a qualified electronic health record, doctors have been wondering what meaningful use means. Today the Health IT Policy Committee, which advises the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, took a major step toward providing a definition of this term.

The recommendations released by the HIT Policy Committee are not the final word. In fact, they are simply the product of a workgroup, and the committee’s discussion today made it clear that the provisions are subject to change and will be tweaked over the next couple of months. After the committee adopts a definition, it will be submitted to CMS, which will put the definition through its formal rule making process. Even when that’s completed, probably by the end of the year, it will apply only to 2011 and 2012 requests for government subsidies. In 2013 and 2015, the requirements will be significantly expanded.

To what end? The HIT Policy Committee has very grand ambitions. As it states in the preamble to its report, “We recommend that the ultimate goal of meaningful use of an Electronic Health Record is to enable significant and measurable improvements in population health through a transformed health care delivery system.” In other words, the committee members are not just trying to make sure that physicians are using the EHRs for which they’re seeking subsidies; they want to make sure they’re using them to “transform healthcare.”

The pertinent questions are whether what the committee is considering bears any resemblance to 1) the EMRs currently on the market; and 2) the environment in which physicians and hospitals (which will also be subject to the definition) operate. The answer to the first question is Maybe: most of the requirements for 2011 can be satisfied by the leading certified EMRs, but it’s unclear whether more than a handful of them will be able to keep up with future requirements. As for the second question, the ability of physicians to exchange information with providers that use different systems is very limited right now, and some of the other requirements in the future may discourage physicians from acquiring EMRs. More Here EMR Stimulus Package