5 roadblocks to meaningful use Stage 2

Summer of 2012 will be an interesting time in healthcare, as Stage 2 requirements of meaningful use will finally come to light. In the meantime, doubts remain regarding the successful adoption of Stage 2 – and whether it’s even possible.

As of now, certain roadblocks exist, and as long as they’re present, Stage 2 success is up in the air. That’s why we asked Guillermo Moreno, vice president of Experis Healthcare, to break down some of the issues he sees with MU Stage 2 and what can be done to address them.

1. Completing Stage 1. Moreno said the completion of Stage 1 is easier said than done. “The challenge [is togetting everyone to complete Stage 1 in a holistic manner enough that when we go to Stage 2, we’re looking at some type of uniformity,” he said. “To me, that’s the primer to all of it -- getting enough of a sizeable mass of the industry to complete Stage 1 and move to Stage 2." Luckily, according to a recently published HIMSS report focusing on meaningful use progress, research has shown a 16 percent increase within seven months of hospitals meeting Stage 1 of meaningful use. The report indicated that, “more eligible hospitals are likely to succeed in meeting the criteria for this first stage of meaningful use, an important step as healthcare providers strive to become meaningful users of health information technology.”

2. Having a clear timeline and guidelines. “In context, if you look at where we started this whole discussion around meaningful use and trying to push the industry and physicians to automate, it’s been a series of relaxations around what was intended to be in the mandate itself,” said Moreno. And just this past July, we saw another relaxation through the delay of Stage 2 until 2013 to 2014, giving way to more criticism surrounding the timing of meaningful use. According to the article published this past July, the Health IT Policy Committee was still, “scrambling to pull together a rough draft of recommendations to guide the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) and CMS on what to include for Stage 2.”

3. Obtaining quality data. Moreno said another major challenge is both measuring and obtaining quality data. “That's a challenge because there’s so much fragmentation in the industry around the data itself and the quality of data,” he said. “What we’re doing, at least generically in Stage 1 and 2, isn’t necessarily going to get us to the point where we, as an industry, can say we’re collecting the right data for the right purpose.”

4. Focusing on additional projects. According to Moreno, the industry is overwhelmed between mandates and meaningful use. “All the things organizations have on their plate, like EMR roadmaps, CPOE, and more, it’s like we’re just piling on the list,” he said. Although it’s tempting to become distracted, Moreno suggests a  “continued religion” around abidance and/or completion of the different stages. “That’s important,” he said. “It’s a good thing we should focus on. You don’t want to let go of the hammer we put in place, so to speak.”

5. Receiving feedback and recognition. Support and clarity surrounding advancements in the industry is key, said Moreno. “A lot of these organizations are measuring or attempting to measure, but really, data concerning how many net organizations have completed [Stage 1] and have gotten benefits would be good,” he said. “And then, recognizing and supporting those who have actually taken on the thought leadership of doing things as demonstrating sites, or as leaders in the industry as well.”

Follow Michelle McNickle on Twitter @Michelle_writes