On Tuesday, Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) sent a letter to federal health officials expressing his concern that efforts to advance the adoption of electronic health records are “at risk of failure or mediocrity” if officials do not strengthen the requirements that doctors and hospitals must meet, The Hill’s “Healthwatch” reports.
Under the 2009 federal economic stimulus package, health care providers who demonstrate meaningful use of certified EHRs can qualify for Medicaid and Medicare incentive payments.
Letter Details
In the letter, Warner recommended that regulators:
Mandate that health care providers submit data electronically and enable Medicare officials to “aggressively” enforce the requirement;
Present “clear and robust” requirements for sharing data between health care providers and health systems; and
Enable patients to access and download their health data (Pecquet, “Healthwatch,” The Hill, 2/22).
