Government Healthcare Policy, Business and Technology

House committee approves bill to stabilize EHR meaningful use requirements

Modern Healthcare: A House committee on Wednesday approved a bill that would change electronic health record meaningful use requirements so they don't have to become stricter over time.

If Congress passes the bill, it could make meaningful use compliance easier for providers and help them avoid penalties. That in turn could cut down on providers' significant hardship requests when they can't attest to meaningful use because their electronic health records are lacking.

Currently, the HHS secretary is required to make meaningful use requirements more "stringent" over time, per the Social Security Act, as amended by the HITECH Act. Lawmakers hoped that would encourage providers to improve their EHR use.

Read article