Is MU Really Doomed?

By Ken Congdon

A lot of knowledgeable folks in the health IT industry have been saying for months now that the Meaningful Use (MU) program, in its current form, is in big trouble. The chatter began at the beginning of the year when Stage 2 requirements proved difficult for providers to fulfill. It escalated when CMS released its final “modifications” rule to Stage 2 and basically ignored pleas from the industry to change the attestation period from one year to 90 days. The recent mass exodus of key personnel from the ONC, including Lygeia Ricciardi, Director of the Office of Consumer eHealth; Joy Pritts, Chief Privacy Officer; Judy Murphy, CNO; Doug Fridsma, Chief Scientist; Jacob Reider, Deputy National Coordinator; and the partial departure of Karen DeSalvo, National Coordinator, have only served to stoke the fire. In fact, many wonder if MU will be able to survive this monumental transition.