As EHR User Fee Idea Dies, Certification Questions Linger

The health information technology user fee proposed in the Department of Health and Human Service’s 2014 budget request is incredibly unlikely to pass Congress — so unlikely it’s a little odd Farzad Mostashari, MD, the national coordinator for health IT, defended it.

“I can’t imagine that a funding fee in healthcare is going to get through the House in this political environment,” said Brian Ahier, a former hospital IT professional in The Dalles, Oregon who now runs a consultancy and sits on the board of DirectTrust.

The vendor fee idea, still pending as part of the budget proposal, is (or was) aimed at filling a funding gap for the ONC’s Certified Health IT Product List, or CHAPL, because it’s primary funding, from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, is slated to run dry at the end of the current fiscal year.