[{"innerBlocks":[],"name":"core\/freeform","postId":3547,"blockType":{"name":"core\/freeform","keywords":[],"attributes":{"content":{"type":"string","source":"raw"},"lock":{"type":"object"}},"providesContext":[],"usesContext":[],"selectors":[],"supports":{"className":false,"customClassName":false,"reusable":false},"styles":[],"variations":[],"apiVersion":3,"title":"Classic","description":"Use the classic WordPress editor.","category":"text"},"originalContent":"The Meaningful Use program is stifling technical innovation and lacks a focus on outcomes-based care, while the certification program is \u201cfilled with outdated requirements\u201d and is a significant drain on health IT developer resources.

That\u2019s the contention of John Halamka, MD, outspoken chief information officer at Boston\u2019s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

\u201cMeaningful Use served a very useful purpose when (National Coordinator for Health IT) Dave Blumenthal did Stage 1\u2014which is, it built a floor, and it ensured that doctors and hospitals had the basics of functionality that would be foundational for anything we\u2019d do in the future,\u201d says Halamka, who\u2019s also been active on federal HIT committees.

However, he contends that Meaningful Use \u201cwent on with far too much prescriptive detail, and we\u2019re now to the point where we just need to morph the program into something else,\u201d such as outcomes- and quality-based payment models for providers, \u201cgiving vendors and clinicians more latitude in how they achieve them.

\u201cIt\u2019s time to rethink what it is we\u2019re going to ask clinicians to do and how we\u2019re going to measure it, instead of just issuing prescriptive regulations,\u201d adds Halamka. \u201cIn short, the Meaningful Use Stage 3 concept should be morphed into a different program.\u201d

Also See: AHA asks Trump to cancel Meaningful Use Stage 3<\/a>

Under the new Quality Payment Program from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Meaningful Use is essentially restructured into a new Advancing Care Information (ACI) performance category as part of MIPS for purposes of calculating payment. At the same time, the measures found within the ACI category are based on the measures adopted by the Electronic Health Records Incentive Programs for Stage 3.

The objectives in the ACI performance category of MIPS emphasize measures that support clinical effectiveness, information security and patient safety, patient engagement, as well as health information exchange. The new ACI performance category score under MIPS defines a meaningful EHR user as a MIPS-eligible clinician who possesses certified EHR technology, uses the functionality of CEHRT, and reports on applicable objectives and measures.

But, according to Halamka, while CMS has made progress toward simplifying Meaningful Use and the ACI category of MIPS, ONC has not followed suit with its certification program. Consequently, he says the certification program is \u201cfilled with outdated requirements and is a significant drain on health IT developer resources, with no incremental gain to patient care.\u201d

Halamka charges that, in some cases, ONC\u2019s certification program has \u201cgone way beyond the Meaningful Use program and the intended scope of HITECH by being highly prescriptive in areas unrelated to Meaningful Use, as opposed to being functional.\u201d

Nonetheless, he says he\u2019s \u201cnot opposed to certification in principle\u201d but \u201cit\u2019s just that the certification rule as currently written is too broad.\u201d","saveContent":"The Meaningful Use program is stifling technical innovation and lacks a focus on outcomes-based care, while the certification program is \u201cfilled with outdated requirements\u201d and is a significant drain on health IT developer resources.

That\u2019s the contention of John Halamka, MD, outspoken chief information officer at Boston\u2019s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

\u201cMeaningful Use served a very useful purpose when (National Coordinator for Health IT) Dave Blumenthal did Stage 1\u2014which is, it built a floor, and it ensured that doctors and hospitals had the basics of functionality that would be foundational for anything we\u2019d do in the future,\u201d says Halamka, who\u2019s also been active on federal HIT committees.

However, he contends that Meaningful Use \u201cwent on with far too much prescriptive detail, and we\u2019re now to the point where we just need to morph the program into something else,\u201d such as outcomes- and quality-based payment models for providers, \u201cgiving vendors and clinicians more latitude in how they achieve them.

\u201cIt\u2019s time to rethink what it is we\u2019re going to ask clinicians to do and how we\u2019re going to measure it, instead of just issuing prescriptive regulations,\u201d adds Halamka. \u201cIn short, the Meaningful Use Stage 3 concept should be morphed into a different program.\u201d

Also See: AHA asks Trump to cancel Meaningful Use Stage 3<\/a>

Under the new Quality Payment Program from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Meaningful Use is essentially restructured into a new Advancing Care Information (ACI) performance category as part of MIPS for purposes of calculating payment. At the same time, the measures found within the ACI category are based on the measures adopted by the Electronic Health Records Incentive Programs for Stage 3.

The objectives in the ACI performance category of MIPS emphasize measures that support clinical effectiveness, information security and patient safety, patient engagement, as well as health information exchange. The new ACI performance category score under MIPS defines a meaningful EHR user as a MIPS-eligible clinician who possesses certified EHR technology, uses the functionality of CEHRT, and reports on applicable objectives and measures.

But, according to Halamka, while CMS has made progress toward simplifying Meaningful Use and the ACI category of MIPS, ONC has not followed suit with its certification program. Consequently, he says the certification program is \u201cfilled with outdated requirements and is a significant drain on health IT developer resources, with no incremental gain to patient care.\u201d

Halamka charges that, in some cases, ONC\u2019s certification program has \u201cgone way beyond the Meaningful Use program and the intended scope of HITECH by being highly prescriptive in areas unrelated to Meaningful Use, as opposed to being functional.\u201d

Nonetheless, he says he\u2019s \u201cnot opposed to certification in principle\u201d but \u201cit\u2019s just that the certification rule as currently written is too broad.\u201d","order":0,"get_parent":{},"attributes":[],"attributesType":{"content":{"type":"string","source":"raw"},"lock":{"type":"object"}},"dynamicContent":""}]

Halamka: Meaningful Use, HIT certification program need reforms

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