House lawmakers are urging CMS to exempt pathologists in Medicare diagnostic labs from reimbursement penalties for not using electronic health records.
While federal initiatives are moving healthcare providers to turn medical records digital, the College of American Pathologists says the requirements to implement EHRs is overburdening and unfair to pathologists as they rarely use EHRs, according to a letter lawmakers sent to CMS.
"Pathologists have limited direct contact with patients and do not operate in EHRs," reads the letter. "Instead, pathologists use sophisticated computerized laboratory information systems to support the work of analyzing patient specimens and generating test results…[I]t is exceedingly difficult for non-patient-facing professionals, such as pathologists, to meet the current requirements of certain quality programs, including the EHR meaningful use program."
The letter asks CMS to grant all eligible professionals the significant hardship exception from penalties for five years.
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