News Feature | January 21, 2016

CMS: MU's End Is Imminent

Christine Kern

By Christine Kern, contributing writer

Meaningful Use And IT VARs

The announcement is being lauded by many in the healthcare industry.

According to Andy Slavitt, acting CMS administrator, 2016 will effectively see the end of the Meaningful Use (MU) program. Speaking at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, Slavitt said the “Meaningful Use program as it has existed, will now be effectively over and replaced with something better.” The move was lauded by many in the healthcare industry as the right move.

In his remarks, Slavitt said, “Since late last year we have been working side by side with physician organizations across many communities — including with great advocacy from the AMA — and have listened to the needs and concerns of many.” While the details will be forthcoming, Slavitt offered the following points:

  • Focus will move away from rewarding providers for using technology and towards patient outcomes.
  • Providers will be able to customize goals in order for tech companies to build around individual practice needs rather than governmental needs or requirements. This will support user-centered technology that supports physicians instead of distracting them.
  • Leveling the technology playing field for start-ups will be a crucial element to this process. Thus, CMS will require open APIs so the physician desktop can be opened up and provide flexibility in EHRs.
  • Interoperability is not going away, with Slavitt saying, “We will begin initiatives in collaboration with physicians and consumers toward pointing technology to fill critical use cases like closing referral loops and engaging a patient in their care. And technology companies that look for ways to practice ‘data blocking’ in opposition to new regulations will find that it won’t be tolerated.”

CMS will be providing more details on future health IT incentive programs on March 25, which Slavitt said would focus on patient outcomes instead of technology use.

CHIME President and CEO Russell Branzell responded to these comments, writing, “We are encouraged that Acting Administrator Slavitt and CMS are open to improving the Meaningful Use program. It is important that we maintain momentum in digitizing healthcare. Robust IT systems are a cornerstone for achieving the Triple Aim — better population health, an improved patient experience and lower costs. CHIME believes that it is essential that we create more synergy between Meaningful Use requirements for hospitals and physicians if we are going to fully realize the potential that health IT has in promoting better patient care across the continuum.”

According to Clinical Endocrinology News, Dr. James L. Madara, CEO of the American Medical Association, underscored the current, negative impact of EHRs on physicians’ practices, noting many physicians are spending at least two hours each workday using their EHR and may click up to 4,000 times per eight-hour shift. He told Med City News, “It was really great to hear about the move from MU to a more aggregated program.”

And in an email, Intermountain Healthcare CIO Marc Probst, CIO wrote, “Meaningful use, in its current form, has only added a layer of rigid functions to the clinician’s workload, and has not added any additional value for providing quality healthcare to patients.

“Fortunately, EHR adoption is moving forward quickly, and enforcement may not be necessary. In order to achieve value from the country’s meaningful use investment, we now need to focus on standards.”

In his comments, Slavitt said the MU program started when few physicians used EHRs and now that healthcare has been digitized, “It’s time to make healthcare technology serve beneficiaries and the physicians who serve them.” Acknowledging that “physician burden and frustration levels are real” and “programs that are designed to improve often distract,” he stated, “We have to get the hearts and minds of physicians back. I think we’ve lost them.”