Stage 2 of Meaningful Use Moved to 2014
Posted by
Pat Karpen on Mon, Dec 12, 2011 @ 04:05 PM
The Department of Health and Human Services officially announced the extension of the Stage 2 Meaningful Use start date from 2013 to 2014. I can imagine loud sighs of relief from both providers and vendors alike as this decision was officially announced.
The following statement from the HHS explains their decision. “Input from the vendor community and the provider community makes clear that the current schedule for compliance with stage 2 meaningful use objectives in 2013 poses a nearly insurmountable timing challenge for those who attest to meaningful use in 2011. With the anticipated release of the final rule for stage 2 in June, 2012, the current timetable would require EHR vendors to design, develop, and release new functionality, and for eligible hospitals to upgrade, implement and begin using the new functionality by the beginning of the reporting year in October of 2012.
Although this announcement is welcome news within the healthcare industry there is still a lot of work to do. A recent CDC survey indicates only a third of physicians have adopted EMR so far. Various reports indicate that many more plan to implement EMR in the near future. Deadlines and critical future decisions still loom. Good news….help is out there. DISC Corporation is here to help healthcare providers deal with their information needs and let them focus on what they do best….provide healthcare!