AHA inquires Trump to cancel Stage 3 Meaningful Use Program

The American Hospital Association has inquired President-elect Donald Trump and his emerging administration to cancel Stage 3 of the Meaningful Use program.

In a month of November 30 letter addressing a variety of regulatory pressures confronted by the nation’s hospitals, AHA inquired Trump to cancel the final Meaningful Use stage “so that hospitals won’t be forced to spend large sums of money upgrading their electronic health records solely for the purpose of meeting regulatory requirements.”

Presently, the mandatory start of Stage 3 is 2018, as developed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in a final rule released this fall.

Addressing the AHA’s request of President-elect Trump, a CMS spokesperson claimed that the agency has been responsive to stakeholder requests for flexibility in the EHR incentive program.