AMA Takes Issue With Meaningful Use Penalties

Marisa Torrieri | HealthcareDIVE | December 19, 2014

American Medical Association president-elect Steven J. Sack, MD, issued a statement expressing his organization's disapproval of CMS' forthcoming penalties against physicians who aren't meeting meaningful use requirements under its EHR Incentive Program.
"The American Medical Association is appalled by news from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services [Wednesday] that more than 50% of eligible professionals will face penalties under the Meaningful Use program in 2015, a number that is even worse than we anticipated," said the statement.
While the meaningful use program was intended to increase physician use of technology to help improve care and efficiency, the strict set of one-size-fits-all requirements is failing physicians and their patients, Sack said. "They are hindering participation in the program, forcing physicians to purchase expensive electronic health records with poor usability that disrupts workflow, creates significant frustrations and interferes with patient care and imposes an administrative burden," said the statement...

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