RECs: Physicians Still Face Meaningful Use Obstacles

Physicians are still encountering problems overcoming barriers to meeting the Meaningful Use requirements, according to the regional extension centers (RECs), which report to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services' Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT.

According to Rob Anthony of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and Dawn Heisey-Grove from ONC, the RECs have reported 15,946 issues impacting 45,863 providers. The four main barriers are practice issues, vendor issues, attestation process problems and Meaningful Use measures. The top challenges, by the number of providers impacted are:

• Meeting Meaningful Use measures
• Provider engagement
• Vendor selection
• Administrative practice issues
• Vendor delays in implementation/installation