On Wednesday, the Health IT Policy Committee discussed draft recommendations for Stage 3 of the meaningful use program, Government Health IT reports.
Under the 2009 federal economic stimulus package, health care providers who demonstrate meaningful use of certified electronic health record systems can qualify for Medicaid and Medicare incentive payments.
Some of the Stage 3 proposals discussed by committee members would require certified EHR systems to:
- Be able to collect and record more extensive demographic data, such as occupation, disability status and gender identity;
- Be able to record advance directives for elderly patients;
- Feature an externally maintained list of drug interactions with greater predictive abilities;
- Offer 15 clinical decision support interventions related to five or more clinical quality measures; and
- Maintain an accurate and up-to-date problem list.
The panel noted that some potential stage 3 requirements -- such as those related to sharing care summaries -- rely on health information exchange requirements that were part of the stage 2 proposed rules, which have yet to be finalized.
Timeline
Paul Tang -- vice chair of the Policy Committee and chair of its meaningful use work group -- said the committee will revise its preliminary stage 3 draft recommendations so they can be released for public comment in November.
The committee hopes to submit its final Stage 3 recommendations to the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT by May 2013, he added (Mosquera, Government Health IT, 8/2).