By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
    Health
    Healthcare organizations are operating on slimmer profit margins than ever. One report in August showed that they are even lower than the beginning of the…
    Show More
    Top News
    Whiplash
    Understanding Whiplash: A Guide For Healthcare Practitioners
    January 22, 2025
    headphones can create health problems
    The Harmful Health Effects of Using Headphones
    September 24, 2021
    Headache causes
    4 Causes Of Headache You Probably Didn’t Know About
    December 28, 2021
    Latest News
    The Wide-Ranging Benefits of Magnesium Supplements
    June 11, 2025
    The Best Home Remedies for Migraines
    June 5, 2025
    The Hidden Impact Of Stress On Your Body’s Alignment And Balance
    May 22, 2025
    Chewing Matters More Than You Think: Why Proper Chewing Supports Better Health
    May 22, 2025
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
    Policy and Law
    Get the latest updates about Insurance policies and Laws in the Healthcare industry for different geographical locations.
    Show More
    Top News
    Has China Done a Good Job Handling H7N9?
    May 17, 2013
    My Solution to the Healthcare Crisis
    March 31, 2012
    Image
    More Health Spending Doesn’t Equal Better Health
    July 14, 2013
    Latest News
    Strengthening Healthcare Systems Through Clinical and Administrative Career Development
    June 13, 2025
    Building Smarter Care Teams: Aligning Roles, Structure, and Clinical Expertise
    May 18, 2025
    The Critical Role of Healthcare in Personal Injury Recovery: A Comprehensive Guide for Victims
    May 14, 2025
    The Backbone of Successful Trials: Clinical Data Management
    April 28, 2025
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: If Meaningful Use Disappeared, How Would EHR Vendors Change Their Products?
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > eHealth > Medical Records > If Meaningful Use Disappeared, How Would EHR Vendors Change Their Products?
eHealthMedical Records

If Meaningful Use Disappeared, How Would EHR Vendors Change Their Products?

ShahidShah
Last updated: February 5, 2014 9:11 am
ShahidShah
Share
5 Min Read
SHARE

meaningful use and EHRI’ve often said that Meaningful Use and the HITECH Act created false demand for EHRs and has (perhaps irrevocably) harmed innovation in the EHR space by standardizing features and function rather than outcomes and expectations.

meaningful use and EHRI’ve often said that Meaningful Use and the HITECH Act created false demand for EHRs and has (perhaps irrevocably) harmed innovation in the EHR space by standardizing features and function rather than outcomes and expectations. It’s a false demand because it concentrated too much on prescriptive, sometimes useless, and in many cases productivity-killing, functionality instead of focusing on what’s really needed — data interoperability and fostering innovation. John Halamka wrote something similar recently in his Advice to the new ONC chief (highlights in red below are mine, not John’s):

Rethink the Certification Program –  With a new National Coordinator, we have an opportunity to redesign certification. As I’ve written about previously some of the 2014 Certification test procedures have negatively impacted the healthcare IT industry by being overly prescriptive and by requiring functionality/workflows that are unlikely to be used in the real world.   One of the most negative aspects of 2014 certification is the concept of “certification only”.   No actual clinical use or attestation is required but software must be engineered to incorporate standards/processes which are not yet mature.   An example is the “transmit” portion of the view/download/transmit patient/family engagement requirements.   There is not yet an ecosystem for patients to “transmit” using CCDA and Direct, yet vendors are required to implement complex functionality that few can use.   I completely support the idea of “transmit”, but it should have waited until the ecosystem was mature enough to make it an attestation requirement.  Another example is the use of QRDA I and QRDA III for quality reporting.   CMS cannot yet receive such files but EHRs must send them in order to be certified.   The result of this certification burden is a delay in 2014 certified product availability.   Certification should focus on rigorous interoperability testing, using mature standards, in practical use cases, supported by the evidence and experience.

Beautiful and smart advice, as usual, from Dr. Halamka. Most people don’t know about what Dr. Halamka so matter of factly (but quite correctly) stated about CMS in his blog post:

CMS cannot yet receive such files but EHRs must send them in order to be certified.

So the one agency (CMS) with the biggest budgets, the most resources, and the best regulatory authority can’t do anything with the data they’re incentivizing the industry to collect through MU dollars. In fact, none of the data that ONC or CMS want us to collect in our physician’s offices and hospitals as part of the MU program can be put to much use by CMS nearly 3 years after the program began. We’ve given out billions of dollars and even more billions plus, perhaps worse, countless manhours of work are being wasted in data collection without tangible results coming from that collection. Sure, we’re paving the way by having more computers and software and systems in place but at what cost and what ultimate value? I’m all for tech and software (MU’s been terrific for us in the IT industry) but the cost in manpower and lost productivity in clinical and admin areas for health systems and practices may be too high. The intentions were all noble but we took an ossified, low innovation, EHR industry pre-MU and reduced it’s ability and incentives to innovate even more post-MU.

More Read

Verizon, WellPoint, CVS, Walgreens Ally with Former Senators to Push Telehealth Policy Reform
FDA Letter Mentions Internal Site Search
FDA Approves Home Dialysis Machine From Fresenius Medical Care
BioPharma Beat: 7 Drivers of Disruptive Innovation in Healthcare
Treating Patients Anywhere, Anytime with Telemedicine

My friend John Lynn and I were talking today about this idea of false demand, MU’s opportunity cost measured in lost innovation, and mostly useless data collection. He reminded me of his recent post The State of the Meaningful Use in which he posed this provocative but useful question to EHR vendors:

If meaningful use were gone (i.e., no more EHR incentive money or penalties requiring meaningful use), which parts of meaningful use would you remove from EHR immediately and which parts would you keep?

In light of both what Dr. Halamka and Mr. Lynn wrote, I think it’s a wonderful question to ask. Whether you’re an EHR vendor or a customer, it’s worth pondering because the answers might be helpful to the new ONC Chief and others charged with promoting EHR sales and use.

(Electronic health record / shutterstock)

TAGGED:EHRmeaningful use
Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) Therapy
How TMS Therapy Helps with Treatment-Resistant Mental Illness
Mental Health Therapies
June 13, 2025
Strengthening Healthcare Systems Through Clinical and Administrative Career Development
Global Healthcare Policy & Law
June 11, 2025
magnesium supplements
The Wide-Ranging Benefits of Magnesium Supplements
Health
June 11, 2025
preparing for next pendamic
Preparing for the Next Pandemic: How Technology is Changing the Game
Technology
June 6, 2025

You Might also Like

mHealth
eHealthMobile HealthTechnology

Is mHealth Just Technology-Driven Hype?

June 4, 2013

Increasing Patient Satisfaction Through Website Features

October 17, 2011
physician rating sites
eHealthSocial Media

Do Physician Rating Sites Make the Grade? Find a Doctor on Angie’s List

January 6, 2014
Image
eHealthGlobal HealthcareMobile Health

Mobile Health Around the Globe: Health eVillages Helps Improve Quality of Care in Haiti

March 11, 2013
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!
Follow US
© 2008-2025 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?