Pressure Mounts to Put Off Stage 3 of Meaningful Use

The College of Healthcare Information Management (CHIME) has joined 15 other organizations in asking Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price to delay implementation of Stage 3 Meaningful Use and Certified EHR Technology requirements indefinitely. In a February 17 letter to Price, they stressed the importance of reducing regulatory burdens for physicians while “ensuring patients benefit from the best technology…and that the goal of a truly interoperable healthcare system comes to fruition.” The letter singled out Stage 3 of the Meaningful Use program as being detrimental to attainment of that objective, along with any similar requirements in the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS). The letter also requested that Price exempt providers from complying with the latest requirements for Certified EHR Technology (CEHRT). The collective noted concerns over “the unrealistic timeframe and the difficult-to-meet requirements” of Stage 3. “Providers are still acclimating to Modified Stage 2 measures and transitioning to the MIPS program,” they write, “and we believe more time is needed at this stage to offer stability to the clinicians using the technology and to enable innovation in the marketplace.” It also notes that just 56% of EHRs have been certified under the 2015 edition of certification requirements, and “it is extremely unlikely” that vendors will be able to meet those requirements by the January 1, 2018 deadline.