Doctors looking to delay meaningful use Stage 3
The American Medical Association has requested that the HHS delay its Meaningful use Stage 3 plan to allow the government to reevaluate the programme. "Meaningful use Stage 3" is a set of criteria that hospitals must meet in order to qualify for Medicare and Medicaid electronic health records incentives. Doctors are concerned that if the administration confirms this proposed Stage 3 regulation now, vendors will make software that will lock-in problematic and non-interoperable technology, which the industry will have to live with for years to come.
Doctors to ask HHS to ‘pause’ Stage 3

With help from Darius Tahir (@DariusTahir ) and Arthur Allen (@ArthurAllen202 )

DOCTORS GETTING RILED UP ABOUT PENDING STAGE 3 RULES: The American Medical Association is circulating a sign-on letter asking HHS to “pause” finalizing meaningful use Stage 3 rules while the government reevaluates the EHR incentive program. It’s critical to get the regulations in synch with the forthcoming Merit-Based Payment System and to move to alternative payment models brought by this spring’s SGR-repeal legislation, AMA says. “We …strongly believe that moving forward with MU Stage 3 at this time will severely undermine the ability of the health system to support the implementation of this critical legislation,” says the draft obtained by Morning eHealth.

The doctors say Stage 3 takes a “drastic step backwards” from CMS’s proposed changes to Stage 2, which AMA also wants HHS to finalize as soon as possible. “If the administration finalizes the proposed MU Stage 3 regulation now, vendors will create software that will lock-in problematic technology, which physicians and patients will be living with for years to come.”

HHS should finalize “integral pieces” of the 2015 EHR certification rule as part of a revised 2014 edition to help with the usability, safety and interoperability of EHRs, the docs say. “[P]ausing Stage 3 will not stop or delay progress with EHRs. Rather, we believe it will help move the program forward and drive innovation and adoption,” they write.

Doctors are trying to counter the push by EHR vendors to have Stage 3 start in 2017 as currently scheduled. (See coverage from last week on the topic here: http://politico.pro/1UGvpq7) Organizations wishing to sign their names to the letter have until Wednesday, before the letter is sent to HHS Sec. Sylvia Mathews Burwell. Pros can read the full letter here: http://politico.pro/1Kk5y0q

eHealth tweet of the day: @DeloitteHealth: EHR adoption: “The fact that we still use ‘electronic’ is somewhat anachronistic” http://deloi.tt/1O47wo4 #CHSBlog

Runner up tweet of the day: @EricTopol: Which is worse for your health: information blockage or arterial blockage?

Welcome to Monday morning eHealth we were amused by the intersection of health policy and late night television when Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon poked fun at the surgeon general’s call to action on walking. “You know that we’re setting the bar a little low when the surgeon general goes from saying we should exercise more to just stand up and walk,” the funny man said in a recent opening monologue. As always, send us news at [email protected] and connect with us on Twitter @ David_Pittman, @ arthurallen202, @ DariusTahir @ POLITICOPro, @ Morning_eHealth.

DAYS TO TILL THE MOVE TO ICD-10: 16

‘BARRIERS TO INTEROPERABILITY WORK’ ROLLS ON: ONC staff have begun drafting the written portion of the agency’s report to Congress on the barriers to interoperability. The report will provide the detailed thinking of an eight-member Health IT Policy Committee task force at work since early August. The group met Friday after receiving feedback earlier in the week from the Policy Committee and will present a final report to the group Nov. 10.

-EHR vendor athenahealth had some harsh words for the task force in a letter it sent Friday: “The workgroup has lost sight of its charge and risks squandering its opportunity to address the very real problem of business models that inhibit interoperation in healthcare, by shifting its focus to a much more generalized assessment of the supposed ‘current state’ of interoperability.” The full letter: http://politico.pro/1FFYm9e

NEW YORKER CARTOON ON HEALTH IT: (Click this! It’s worth it.) http://nyr.kr/1FG1K4d

MORE DETAIL ON THIS WEEK’S HELP HEARING: The Senate HELP Committee announced the three witnesses for Wednesday’s hearing on patient access to their electronic medical records, the fifth dedicated to health IT this year. They include Raj Ratwani, scientific director of MedStar Health’s National Center For Human Factors In Healthcare; Kathy Giusti, founder and executive chair of the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation; and Eric Dishman, general manager for health and life sciences at Intel. Ratwani last week had a paper published in JAMA that found most EHRs don’t comply with ONC’s usability standards.

EXCELLUS BRIEF TOUGH TO STUDY: The recently announced cyberattack on New York’s Excellus BlueCross BlueShield is presenting a new and possibly increasingly common problem for the cybersecurity world. The breach started in late December 2013 but wasn’t discovered until Aug. 5. The indicators the attackers left and lessons learned that can be shared with others to prevent future attacks may no longer be meaningful because they’re so old, according to HITRUST. “We suspect as more healthcare organizations including health insurers and providers are maturing their security practices and programs they will identify ongoing or historical breaches,” the health-focused cybersecurity alliance says.

TELEPHONE COACHING YIELDS SAVINGS FOR CHRONIC DISEASE: A study of claims of more than 126,000 patients found a payer-provided telephone-based chronic disease management program produced an average annual savings of more than $1,100 per enrollee. The results were published recently in the journal Population Health Management. “These results provide support for the belief that a telephone-based management program for members with a chronic disease, using motivational interviewing techniques to help patients develop the skills for disease self-management, can result in important health care savings for members in participating groups,” the authors wrote. The paper in PubMed: http://1.usa.gov/1F7Nl5M Pros can see the paper here: http://politico.pro/1OoNiVp

ORTHO SURGEONS HIT WASHINGTON: The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons hit the halls of Capitol Hill late last week to state their case on the need for interoperability and well-functioning EHRs to succeed in forthcoming Medicare payment models. A program that would pay surgeons a lump sum for knee and hip replacements is set to start in 2016. (Comments on the proposed plan were due last Tuesday). But the orthopedic surgeons say easier interoperability is needed for follow-up care.

THUMBS UP FOR SLAVITT AND WAKEFIELD: HIMSS has asked the Senate Finance Committee to support the nominations of Andy Slavitt as CMS administrator and Mary Wakefield as deputy HHS secretary. In a letter to Chair Orrin Hatch and Ranking Member Ron Wyden that was made public Friday, the leading health IT trade group praised the two nominees’ work in health IT. “Mr. Andy Slavitt is widely respected as an innovative and effective manager,” HIMSS wrote. “His background in the healthcare and technology private sector offers a valuable perspective to CMS as the agency looks for ways to use health IT to improve quality, enhance health, and reduce cost in our healthcare system.” More info: http://bit.ly/1Qb3tEd

TODAY’S CIVICS LESSION: Morning eHealth has previously told you that a bill exempting patient encounters in ambulatory surgery centers from meaningful use requirements was on its way to the president’s desk to be signed into law. While it’s true the Electronic Health Fairness Act was passed by both the House and Senate this summer, it’s not quite on Obama’s plate yet. When the House passed the bill sponsored by Tennessee Rep. Diane Black in June, H.R. 887 was included in a larger package ( H.R. 2570) that dealt with Medicare Advantage. The Senate passed its bill as a stand-alone, S. 1347. But to get to the president, the White House tells us, either the Senate needs to take up H.R. 2570 or the House needs to pass the stand-alone. Got it? There will be a pop quiz later this week.

WHAT WE’RE CLICKING:

The New York Times runs this ICD-10 story on its front page: http://nyti.ms/1iIcWZ2

How telemedicine is helping children in a Guatemalan orphanage: http://bit.ly/1K74kCf

A fetal heart monitor on your watch is not critical to digital health, this piece argues: http://bit.ly/1KgF1Nc

In Memory of Hunt Blair: http://bit.ly/1Ml4EmF

AHRQ publishes Q&A between Eric Topol and Bob Wachter: http://1.usa.gov/1F7r8Vn

Tips, comments, suggestions? Send them along via email to our team: Arthur Allen ([email protected] , @ArthurAllen202 ), David Pittman ([email protected] , @David_Pittman ), Darius Tahir ([email protected] , @DariusTahir ) and Aubree Eliza Weaver ([email protected] , @AubreeEWeaver ).



Follow us on Twitter Mohana Ravindranath @ravindranize



Darius Tahir @dariustahir