Meaningful use criteria have certainly stimulated both dialogue and EHR adoption within the healthcare community. But for some physicians, the use of EHR is a strategic investment in the consistency and quality of care that they provide as a team inside and outside the clinic.
In a recent article published by the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), EHR Meaningful Use Dropout Rate Soars in 2012, some “meaningful” observations are cited regarding physician reporting (and lack thereof) of meaningful use data. An interesting contrast is presented in the article regarding a 180-percent increase in first-time meaningful users in 2012 while there was a 21-percent drop in the retention rate of MU users in 2012 from those who attested in 2011.
Several years before the final ruling of Stage 1 Meaningful Use I learned from physicians about their intrinsic motivation for a commitment to EHR. For some physicians, the value of the EHR did not lie in the carrot and stick of the EHR Incentive Programs; instead, it was with the opportunity to engage this tool with consistency and best practices for care as ongoing outcomes in the clinic.
While there is very likely merit in the argument that sustaining physicians’ attention when moving from a reporting period of 90 days to a full year in Stage 1 is a challenge, there may be more to consider as well — more than just the length of the reporting period discouraging physicians, but the possibility of some apathy toward the program itself in lieu of other priorities. Among those priorities may be the continuity of care via the EHR between clinics and associated hospital and the focus on working with the EHR vendor toward a more robust and customized use of the EHR.
There is certainly reason to add the concern of efficiency of cash flow as well as timely and accurate reimbursements with the integrated EHR and practice management (PM) tools. For others still, the pressure of meaningful use reporting and the commitment to an EHR may be outweighed in the clinic by the pressure to choose an affiliate (i.e., hospital) partner that is willing to support them in terms of the EHR and continuity of care for their patients. Ultimately, it may come down to the very sustainability of the clinic as a whole.
Perhaps another outcome to consider is that beyond the structured financial incentive to physicians, there may not be enough value in return for their ongoing participation and attestation of meaningful use. While this may not seem like the most favorable outcome for the meaningful use program, it is not to say that this program is not still very influential in supporting the development and use of EHR. In an increasingly competitive healthcare marketplace, there is growing support for looking beyond the EHR Incentive Programs for an explanation of this decrease in physician retention. Source
