A bipartisan group of 27 senators sent a letter to acting CMS Administrator Charlene Frizzera calling for changes to the agency's proposed rule on the "meaningful use" of electronic health records, HealthLeaders Media reports.
The 2009 federal economic stimulus package includes incentive payments for hospitals and physicians who demonstrate meaningful use of EHRs. Health care providers who do not meet the rule's EHR adoption standards could face payment penalties beginning in 2015.
The senators wrote that very few hospitals will be able to meet all 23 EHR objectives or requirements necessary to qualify for incentive payments. The senators are calling for a more gradual implementation process and the relaxation or revision of many of the requirements (Clark, HealthLeaders Media, 3/30).
They wrote that the proposed rule "goes against the intent of Congress to reward those hospitals that have already taken important steps toward implementing EHR systems and to provide incentives to encourage further development" (AHA News, 3/29). They added that the proposed rule is "too restrictive and could result in many hospitals, particularly rural and safety-net providers, being financially penalized for an inability to comply."
The letter also raises concerns about the:
- Proposed definition of a hospital-based physician excluding those who practice in outpatient centers and clinics because their facilities are owned by the hospital system;
- "Punitive treatment" of some hospitals that have multiple campuses but one federal provider number; and
- Exclusion of crucial access hospitals with 25 or fewer acute care beds from being eligible for incentive payments.
The senators also urged CMS to postpone EHR quality reporting requirements because they are "not yet possible to meet" (HealthLeaders Media, 3/30).
Sens. Amy Klobucher (D-Minn.) and Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) initiated the letter (AHA News, 3/29).