Is It Time For An MU Reboot?

The Meaningful Use (MU) program has come under fire over the past few months. Everyone from respected Beth Israel Medical Center CIO John Halamka to the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) has gone public saying the government-run health IT incentive program is in desperate need of an overhaul. This sentiment was echoed by the CIOs from Georgia Regents Health System, Inspira Health Network, Memorial Hospital, and Southern Illinois Healthcare (SIH) I interviewed for our article Where Does IT Hurt?

For the most part, these CIOs support the intentions of the MU program and believe the program has been instrumental at driving EHR adoption in the U.S. However, these CIOs also feel the program has become too complicated and prescriptive over time. These health IT leaders are becoming frustrated with the MU program’s lack of flexibility, stating that the criteria don’t align with organizational objectives. Some have even gone so far as to suggest the criteria are counterintuitive to the ultimate goals of the program.

SIH CIO Dave Holland provides a strong case in point. “Stage 2 MU provides incentives for many different types of health providers to install a patient portal,” he says. “Therefore, we’re installing a patient portal at the hospital, for our PCPs, and for our specialists. In my opinion, it makes more sense to simply establish a patient portal at the PCP level and require all other health providers to feed their data to the PCP. With all of these disparate portals being built to satisfy MU, it becomes difficult for patients to gather their health data effectively, which can actually serve to discourage patient engagement. Ultimately, this approach provides little value to the provider and the patient.”

So what does the future hold for MU? Most likely, more conflict. ONC recently proposed a relaxation of Stage 2 rules that essentially extends some deadlines and, in some cases, allows incentive recipients to attest for Stage 2 using 2011 certified EHRs instead of 2014 standards. Some feel these moves are evidence of a program in trouble. Others believe these revisions don’t go far enough. And let’s not forget about the upcoming election season. It’s likely that Republicans will have ONC and the MU program in their crosshairs with plans to eliminate the program altogether. It is possible MU may not even live to see Stage 3. If it does, it will likely be a much different program than it is today. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. The need and demand for health IT should be as strong as ever, but the methods and priority in which it is applied will need to evolve.