DENVER – The Medical Group Management Association is warning that many physicians won't qualify for federal stimulus money if the program managing electronic health record adoption isn't properly administered.

In a letter to David Blumenthal, MD, national coordinator for health information technology, the MGMA warned that if the EHR incentive program contained in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 is “not developed and administered appropriately, large numbers of medical groups will fail to achieve ‘meaningful use’ and not qualify for the incentives.”

In the letter, the MGMA made several recommendations for improving the program.

“In developing the incentive program logistics, the federal government must ensure that concepts of practicality and achievability serve as the foundation of the process,” said William F. Jessee, MD, the MGMA's president and CEO. “Should clinicians encounter significant and burdensome program-related roadblocks and hurdles in their efforts to achieve and prove that they are meaningful users of an EHR, the government runs the risk of not fulfilling the legislation’s directive, and the program could fail to bring about the system improvements many of us envision.

The recommendations consist of:

• instituting a pilot test prior to the start of the program and before each new phase;
• including only criteria for meaningful use that have widespread industry use or have been tested; 
• using only meaningful use administrative criteria that are appropriate and achievable;
• permitting physicians to test their reporting systems prior to their “go-live” date;
• permitting flexibility to acheive meaningful use and avoiding a “pass/fail” approach;
• developing a simple process for physicians to attest that they have achieved meaningful use;
• simplifying the data-reporting process and ensuring that the government is ready to accept the data; and
• monitoring the industry to ensure that the program logistics operate appropriately.

MGMA officials said the vendor community must be monitored for its ability to produce high quality and reasonably priced software.

“This is a historic opportunity for the industry to improve the clinical care physicians deliver to their patients and to streamline healthcare administration,” Jessee said. “If constructed effectively, this program has the potential of transforming the nation’s healthcare system.”