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More than 90 physician and state medical societies sent a letter to federal officials calling their proposed criteria for the adoption and use of EMR s unrealistic and overly ambitious.

Physicians are very supportive of efforts to incorporate EMR s into their practices to improve quality of care and enhance patient safety, stated the March 15 letter, signed by the American Medical Association, the American College of Physicians, the American Academy of Family Physicians and the American College of Surgeons, among many others. Nearly all state medical societies also signed on.

"Studies of EHR adoption clearly show that it takes more time for smaller practices to adopt and implement EHR s because they have fewer resources and support," the letter stated. "Aggressive timelines and criteria during the initial stage of the incentive program will only serve to undermine this effort."

The organized medicine comment letter suggests a number of revisions, including allowing physicians to secure bonuses if they attest to meeting at least five of the 25 objectives, rather than the "all or nothing" approach outlined in the proposed rule. The groups also call for eliminating certain objectives that don't directly apply to EMR adoption and reducing the number of clinical quality measures that physicians would need to report using their electronic systems.

Federal officials said they are trying to strike an appropriate balance between an aggressive timetable and the reality of how few physicians and hospitals are fully capable of using EMR s now.

Sebelius and Dr. Blumenthal also announced during the media call that the federal government was releasing another $162 million in awards to help states facilitate health information exchange and advance healthcare IT.

Source : AMA

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