Hospital groups urge HHS to release final rule easing meaningful use requirements

Eight national hospital organizations, including the AHA, today urged the Department of Health and Human Services to immediately release a final rule easing “meaningful use” requirements for fiscal years 2015-2017 under the Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Record Incentive Programs. Specifically, the groups urged HHS to finalize a 90-day reporting period for FY 2015 and certain other proposed flexibilities, but said proposals such as mandatory e-prescribing of discharge medications and new public health reporting measures “would be virtually impossible for hospitals to accommodate” given the delay in the rule’s release. “Widespread failure to meet meaningful use due to unrealistic regulatory requirements and insufficient technology will undermine hospitals’ ability to use EHRs to improve care and involve patients in their care,” the organizations wrote. “It will also result in significant financial penalties for the hospital field.”