After a record level of EHR lobbying in 4Q2015 (here) on the "meaningful use" policy dictatorship (here), CMS officially stated that Meaningful Use in its current form would probably die off (here). CMS is even starting to opine on where EHR incentives will go next (here). EHR penalties and bonuses will still be around, because they play a substantial role in the physician payment reform package called MACRA (here). MACRA will enter CMS rulemaking in Summer 2016 and kicks into gear in 2017.
Senate Draft Bill on Long Awaited Interoperability Goals
Meanwhile, the Senate offered a draft 68 page bill on interoperability standards for EHRs (bill here, article from Health Care Informatics, here.) See a nine page discussion of the key issues from the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME), July 2015, here.
