CMS changes propel Meaningful Use debate

With the surplus of changes in healthcare administration, the meaningful use debate has reignited underneath new tensions and reform bills. Executives and experts alike are struggling to stay on top of the constant changes ongoing in the industry, with healthcare professionals gathering together to ask: where does meaningful use come into play in all of this?

EMR advocate, meaningful use expert Jim Tate has made his opinion of these new reforms public and is hoping to begin the critical conversation surrounding these hot button issues in order to produce results for the industry.  Tate discusses the newly suggested rules by the CMS administration, and how these imposed regulations will affect the entire supply chain of healthcare professionals: from executives, to medical professionals, to patients.

Tate writes, “Now I’m all for flexibility but I am starting to seeing a sense of disbelief out in the field. What was true one week is not true the next. Time lines have been extended and penalty exemptions have been expanded, all well and good, but it is not enough to quell the confusion and doubt that is now surfacing. Even the rock solid concept of certified electronic health care technology (CEHRT) seems to be losing focus. The functionality currently being finalized for the “voluntary” 2015 Edition CEHRT is not guaranteed to be in the “required” 2017 CEHRT.”

As the industry’s go-to man concerning EMR and meaningful use, Tate continued to say, “There is too much uncertainty for EHs and vendors. We really should be on more solid footing. And don’t forget the wild card of politics. It wasn’t too long ago that a Congressman from Pennsylvania took it upon himself to blow up the ICD-10 apple cart. You can read about his little maneuver in one of my recent posts, Power Politics and the Hijacking of Healthcare Policy. No wonder CIOs are having trouble planning for the next few years. They deserve better.”

The critiques of the new regulations continue to flood in from industry veterans, with newly directed leadership as the overall consensus as to what the next step forward should be. Tate and others within his field of expertise continue to caution the healthcare industry from adapting this “quick-fix” mentality, and urges reformers to consider long-term perspective when continually changing the healthcare landscape.