WASHINGTON – The recent deadline extensions for meaningful use attestation are encouraging, but not enough. The process must be more user-friendly and clinically meaningful.
That’s according to Dr. Robert Wah, president of the American Medical Association. Dr. Wah discussed the AMA’s concerns about meaningful use and health information technology in a video interview – including whether there is enough of a focus on interoperability of electronic health records.
He also touched on the transition to the ICD-10 code set, again questioning whether the move is clinically useful and ultimately helps improve patient care.
Recently, Dr. Karen DeSalvo, National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, was given an additional appointment as the acting assistant secretary for health to help with the effort to combat the Ebola epidemic. That caused concern among physicians that there could be a leadership vacuum at the Office of the National Coordinator at a time when so much is happening in health IT. Although it was later clarified that she would remain in charge of the effort, there are still some worries, Dr. Wah said.
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