HIMSS Says Start Stage 2 On Time And Give It Time To Work
Adopting an approach that encourages continued progress while simultaneously acknowledging short-term obstacles, HIMSS recommends launching Stage 2 Meaningful Use on-schedule and extending Year 1 of the Meaningful Use Stage 2 attestation period through April 2015 and June 2015 for EHs and EPs, respectively. This would encompass 18 months in which EHs and EPs can attest to Meaningful Use requirements for one quarter.
Data from the more than 5,400 hospitals in the HIMSS Analytics database indicate clear challenges for eligible hospitals and tethered ambulatory care facilities preparing for Meaningful Use Stage 2. These data show:
- Up to 68 percent of eligible hospitals, and
- 41 percent of tethered ambulatory facilities
have purchased the necessary software to attest to the 2014 Certification requirements, but there are concerns that many may still be waiting for the necessary upgrade to the certified version.
HIMSS shared its position on extending the deadline for Meaningful Use Stage 2 attestation in an Aug. 15 letter to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius; Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Marilyn Tavenner; and, National Coordinator for Health IT Dr. Farzad Mostashari, MD, ScM.
Farzad Mostashari is now a lame duck, having resigned leaving the rest of us with “Hope and Change’. While I can praise him for devotion to an IT cause he has bailed out for unknown reasons.
HHS mandated Meaningful use implementation in an unrealistic schedule. Unfortunately it is interwoven with other mandates such as physicians and hospitals qualifying for EMR and HIT incentives. HHS does not even guarantee it will work as predicted, but they still require implementation to receive incentives.
Medical practices will be required to submit MU stage II and not know if it even works or if they will receive incentives as promised. Submissions will probably be lost and/or improperly processed. Again pass the buck to providers, who will be fined and not receive incentives after already investing hundreds of millions of dollars in Health IT. The only ones who gained were HIT vendors, and insurance companies and Medicare who will maybe reap data, that probably will sit on a server in Utah to be analyzed by non-existing analytic software
If this is an indication of how the Affordable Care Act will work health care is in for a not so big surprise. Physicians and Hospitals already realize this, and there is much being written about it for the past 12 months, building now to a sense of total frustration and almost an apathetic approach to letting the plan go on, break down, cause financial losses and worsen care for patients..
We are now told, don’t worry we don’t know how or if it works, but we should progress and find out , after the fact. This sound much like the proclamation of the highest democratic leaders in congress. We heard this before……we won’t know what is in it until we pass it.
Basically the Affordable Care Act was passed on a hope and a dream as a political expediency and with an unrealistic goal and approved by our President with that in mind. President Obama's campaign rhetoric of “Hope and Change” was largely an empty promise. Yes, it promised change for the less fortunate in America…..at the expense of the nations overall financial health. Regardless of how the Supreme court ruled on the constitutional validity of the employer and individual mandate, Justice Roberts and his band of cronies voted that it was constitutional throwing it back to Congress to correct their incompetence. Basically he refused to have the judicial system correct congressional incompetence.
Almost all of us want to provide a social health system that cares for everyone. It affects everyone to see a parent or family member and themselves neglected by a broken health system, and fantasize that the whole of the ACA will be better than the parts.
This parallels the false and delusional analysis and refusal to deal with the national debt other than print more money. In fact the Global dependency on the US Dollar underwriting of the financial system is about to cease, being inherited by other countries such as the Chinese Yuan, the Euro-dollar (which is even weaker. Perhaps this fact will evolve into banks refusing us credit completely very soon.
The Affordable Care Act must be put on indefinite hold until it is totally reviewed by competent professionals without financial interest and those not involved with it’s passage in the first place.
The Affordable Care Act will worsen our credit worthiness. President Obama’s plan appeals to those who need hope and change (which may or may not occur, depending upon who you talk to. A vast majority of Americans are more than uneasy with the plan.
Why were the Democrats in such a hurry to pass a bill they did not read? Political gain !!
Health Train Express and Digital Health Space will continue the message.
Wake up, stop drinking the ‘Kool Aid’, stop believing the utter and absolute truth that our government has completely broken down.
Start writing your democratic leaders and overwhelm them with public opinion.
Perhaps we need a ‘Million Man March’ in D.C. and fill the Capital Mall, shut down Washington D.C. and maybe, just maybe President Obama and our worthless congress will get the message.
Dave deBronkart (e-Patient Dave) well known patient advocate, frequent keynote speaker for advocacy groups, and TEDMED.
