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WASHINGTON – As part of the National Health IT Week, held June 14-18 in Washington, DC, leaders of the the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) urged Congress to make haste on meaningful use, without losing sight of what can be realistically achieved by the industry.
HIMSS leaders prepped members at the ninth annual HIMSS Policy Summit, held June 15-17 at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, DC, prior to storming Capitol Hill to push HIMSS's 2010 advocacy agenda.
Barry P. Chaiken, MD, HIMSS board chair, encouraged National Health IT Week participants to ask lawmakers to ensure that any future policy pertaining to electronic health record incentive programs under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act balance meaningful use criteria and measures with industry readiness, without delaying the timeline for implementation.
Chaiken said HIMSS's policy agenda this year also calls for Congress to enable the study of an informed patient identity solution. HIMSS is also pushing for Congress to work with the Obama Administration to make the current physician self-referral regulation exemptions, or Stark exemptions, and anti-kickback safe harbors permanent.
Neal Neuberger, executive director of the Institute for e-Health Policy, said the healthcare system is complex and diverse, and solutions to move healthcare IT forward need to be equally complex.
"These are not so much technological issues, but complex organizational issues that require some sophisticated approaches involving literally millions of players," Neuberger said.
Neuberger said he doubted Congress will work on any actual healthcare IT legislation this year, because most of its healthcare IT focus is already on the HITECH measures in ARRA.
Like other leaders - both federal and industry stakeholders - Neuberger predicted meaningful use regulations will see many iterations and adaptations over the coming years.
Justin Barnes, Chairman of the Electronic Health Record Association, said EHR Association members are "committed to achieving interoperability" and "to designing products that enhance patient safety.” The EHR Association represents a majority of the commercially available, installed and operational EHRs in the U.S.
