27 U.S. Senators submitted a letter to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services urging it to revise its "meaningful use" definition and requirements, which are used to determine which hospitals will qualify for incentive payments for implementing electronic health record systems, according to a report by AHA News Now.
As currently written, the meaningful use rule would require hospitals to adopt all 23 EHR requirements in order to be eligible for incentive funds. However, very few hospitals have been able to meet all of the requirements currently, and the senators urged CMS to rethink its "all-or-nothing" approach, according to the report. This approach would fail to reward hospitals that have already taken steps to implement EHRs, although they may have not yet met all 23 requirements.
Read AHA News Now's report on the letter by senators to CMS regarding meaningful use.
As currently written, the meaningful use rule would require hospitals to adopt all 23 EHR requirements in order to be eligible for incentive funds. However, very few hospitals have been able to meet all of the requirements currently, and the senators urged CMS to rethink its "all-or-nothing" approach, according to the report. This approach would fail to reward hospitals that have already taken steps to implement EHRs, although they may have not yet met all 23 requirements.
Read AHA News Now's report on the letter by senators to CMS regarding meaningful use.