As government officials continue to hammer out the details of the second stage of meaningful use, groups are calling for the guidelines to jibe better with the existing e-prescribing incentive program.
The Medical Group Management Association sent a letter to Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius, asking her to consider possible conflicts that could arise for providers who are trying to take part in both programs.
The letter states that providers who could be eligible for both incentive programs – the one being offered for e-prescribing and the electronic health records initiative – should be able to reap the full amount of benefits to which they are entitled. For this to happen, officials would need to consider ways in which the programs could potentially conflict with one another.
The e-prescribing incentive program began processing incentive payments in 2009. The electronic health record initiative could begin distributing incentive payments within the next couple of months. Officials from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT are currently working on the details of the second stage of meaningful use rules that providers will need to follow to qualify for the latter program.