A recent poll from KPMG, an audit, tax and advisory services firm, suggests many business administrators at hospitals and health systems are expressing doubt on whether or not they can meet the new Stage 2 meaningful use requirements of EHR compliance standards. Less than half of those surveyed (48 percent) in the KPMG poll last month said they were confident in their organization’s level of readiness to meet Stage 1 meaningful use requirements.

“The results show that organizations are moving forward but it’s interesting that many are not more confident with their level of readiness, especially when considering anticipated Stage 2 requirements,” Brad Benton, partner and national account leader for KPMG Healthcare, said in a statement.

Thirty-nine percent of the respondents said they were somewhat confident in their organization’s level of readiness, three percent said they were not confident at all, and 10 percent didn’t know what their level of readiness was.  Interestingly, the majority (71 percent) of the hospital and health system business leaders said they are more than 50 percent of the way to completing EHR system adoption.

According the report, the biggest challenge organizations have had in meeting Stage 1 meaningful use requirements is simply understanding the requirements involved in demonstrating meaningful use (25 percent). This was followed by training and change management efforts (20 percent); capturing the relevant data electronically as part of clinical workflows (18 percent); lack of a dedicated meaningful use team (12 percent) and not having the appropriate certified technology (six percent).

“Adding to the challenge is the continuing development of the regulations themselves,” Mike Beaty, principal and KPMG Healthcare IT enablement leader, said in a statement. “Each successor stage really builds on its predecessor, so it’s imperative that organizations really embrace and institutionalize the concept that achieving compliance is not just a technology focused project. Real success will be defined by highly-effective adoption of redesigned clinical workflows and care delivery processes.”