GOP Lawmakers Urge Halt on Meaningful-Use Payments

HHS should suspend incentive payments to providers in the electronic health-records program and delay penalties to those that do not integrate health IT until the federal department can define clear, interoperable standards, House Republican leaders suggested Thursday in a letter to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

During a seven-week congressional recess, the chairmen of the House Energy and Commerce and Ways and Means Committees and respective health subcommittees charged that nearly $10 billion in federal dollars may have been wasted because the recent Stage 2 Meaningful Use program rules from the CMS and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology are “weaker” than the Stage 1 rules released three years ago.

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Source: Modern Healthcare