The Ann Arbor, Mich.-based College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) has expressed “major concerns” that reporting, product certification and implementation deadlines could impact efforts to effectively implement EHRs under recently proposed federal regulations.
In a statement, CHIME said that several provisions within the recently released meaningful use regulations merit closer scrutiny and will pose significant challenges for providers hoping to implement EHRs.
The organization is in favor of a phased approach used to measure meaningful use of EHRs, in which first-year meaningful use criteria will apply to hospitals whenever they are eligible. However, CHIME says that the current schedule places pressure on hospitals that delay rolling out EHRs, because by 2015, all hospitals and eligible providers would need to meet Stage 3 criteria to avoid payment penalties.
CHIME also expressed concern that there will be significant challenges regarding the use of Physician Quality Reporting Initiative indicators for reporting quality, and on the burden that will be placed on providers to demonstrate that they are using “certified EHR technology.” The organization is encouraging all concerned parties to comment on the proposed regulations and is planning to submit input and comments to ONCHIT.
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