EHR Vendors Discuss Stage 2 Final Rule, Upcoming Challenges

Despite the time crunch and upcoming challenges, the EHR vendors came out with a positive view of the final rule. Even things like the lack of test methods, Segal said, was countered by the ONC’s guidance in certain areas. “They would say, we expect our test methods for this measure would require you to do X, Y, or Z,” he noted.

Beyond the timeline change, there seemed to be other positive outcomes of the final rule, from an EHR vendor perspective. The EHR Association, Burchell said, was supportive of CMS and ONC’s decision to evolve standards-based interoperability, adding that the EHRA continues to analyze requirements around inter-vendor exchange.  She also said EHR vendors are also pleased with CMS and ONC moving forward and focusing on structured data, and patient engagement.

Summing it up, Segal said, “In a number of areas, CMS and ONC made things more manageable, reducing the number of final quality measures from what had been proposed, and in some cases thresholds lower than what they had proposed. I think they took steps to make things more workable for Stage 2.”