The ONC has incorporated wording into the meaningful use stage 3 proposed rule that softens the requirements for patient engagement.
Representatives at the HIMSS15 Annual Conference & Exhibition in Chicago explained how the changed wording in the patient engagement objective eases the burden placed on providers for patients to view, download or transmit their health information. Healthcare organizations are still required to provide access to view, download or transmit information to at least 50 percent of patients, but the patient engagement requirement for stage 3 has been changed to require only that one patient view, download or transmit his or her information, according to Medscape.
The patient engagement requirement has been a nerve-wracking one for many in the industry. Robert Gordon, the director of information systems for Halifax Regional Medical Center in Roanoke Rapids, N.C., said engaging patients is a struggle for his hospital. Most of the time, the only time the patients use the patient portal is during the discharge procedure when hospital staff walks them through the process and downloads their information from the hospital terminal, Mr. Gordon said.
"We've got 10 percent of our patients that show up that will give us an email [address]," Mr. Gordon said. "This makes it extremely difficult to reach the 5 percent requirement."
However, some supported the higher threshold. Debra L. Ness, president of Washington, D.C.-based National Partnership for Women & Families, said in a statement that the revision of the rule is a "dramatic retreat from essential, ongoing efforts to make patients and their families equal partners in improving health through shared information, understanding and decisionmaking." She urged CMS to reconsider.
The ONC representatives said they could not discuss the intent of the proposed rule until the close of the public commenting period on May 29, 2015, according to Medscape.
Editor's note: This story was corrected April 20. A previous version of this story misstated Mr. Gordon's quote as 10 percent of patients refusing to provide an email address.