A coalition of provider organizations, patient groups, health payers and health IT companies known as Health IT Now praised a piece of bipartisan legislation introduced June 30 that would ease EHR reporting requirements for physicians and hospitals.
Led by Rep. Michael Burgess, MD, R-Texas, the one-paragraph bill (H.R. 3120) would eliminate part of a sentence in the 2009 Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act, which required the HHS secretary to create "more stringent measures of meaningful use."
In a July 11 letter addressed to the bill's cosponsors, Health IT Now Executive Director Joel White said the legislation would allow the administration to refocus its effort on data exchange and other health IT objectives that improve patient outcomes.
"With this legislation, [CMS] will have the opportunity to transform the focus of [the] Meaningful Use program from 'check-the-box' activities to truly meaningful outcomes, including reaching widespread interoperability," Mr. White wrote.
Click here to view the full letter.
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