Lake Almanor, Calif.-based Association of Medical Directors of Information Systems (AMDIS) President William Bria, M.D., posted his response with recommendations regarding the ONC Meaningful Use Definition to National Coordinator for Health Information Technology David Blumenthal, M.D.
Among Bria’s recommendations include specific emphasis on EHR adoption and reporting:
We see placing the reporting of quality measures in advance of reporting measures of meaningful EHR adoption as akin to putting ‘the cart before the horse’ — the fields that form the basis for automated quality reporting must first be populated on a regular basis through appropriate data entry and capture, and then presented to physicians for validation. This is a critical step in EHR use optimization and for the changes in behavior that will remediate care deficiencies.
In addition, Bria warns that “implementing full CPOE is an important but complicated undertaking fraught with potential unintended negative consequences if done too quickly or incorrectly.”
