From the American Academy of Ophthalmology

Republican members of the U.S. Senate this week requested that U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius give Medicare providers an extra year to comply with new meaningful use requirements included in the Medicare Electronic Health Record Incentive Program. Unless a delay is initiated, physicians will have to upgrade their EHR systems beginning in 2014 to meet new meaningful-use requirements included in the second stage of the program. GOP lawmakers say the requirement for physicians to complete the second-stage requirements by the end of 2014 is not workable. “We are concerned that the onset of Stage 2 may further widen the digital divide for small and rural providers who lack the resources of large practices and may not be vendors’ top priorities,” the lawmakers wrote.

In addition to the senators’ efforts seeking a delay, the Academy is lobbying Congress to include changes to the EHR program in any proposal to reform Medicare physician pay. Specifically, the Academy is calling on lawmakers to incorporate legislation (H.R. 1331) introduced by U.S. Rep. Diane Black, R-Tenn., to an overall Medicare pay reform bill. This bill would create exemptions for solo practitioners and physicians nearing retirement from penalties in the EHR program. Academy members can help build support for H.R. 1331 by using online tools to write to their representatives to urge that they sign on as a cosponsor.