Lack of Confidence in Meeting EHR Standards

Despite high electronic health record (EHR) adoption rates, hospital and health system administrators are mostly less than confident about their ability to meet new EHR standards, according to a KPMG poll.

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he majority (71%) of respondents said that they are more than halfway done with completing EHR adoption, but less than half are confident in their level of readiness to meet Stage 1 meaningful use requirements.

“The results show that organizations are moving forward, but it’s interesting that many are not more confident with their level of readiness, especially when considering anticipated Stage 2 requirements,” said Brad Benton, partner and national account leader for KPMG Healthcare, said in a statement.

While only 39% said they were just somewhat confident in their organization’s level of readiness, 3% admitted they were not confident at all, and 10% couldn’t gauge their level of readiness.

“Achievement of meaningful use is a major organization-wide transformational initiative, and associated challenges must be effectively managed from the beginning or organizations may face serious project risk issues down the line,” Benton said.

The biggest issue organizations reported in meeting Stage 1 meaningful use requirements is just understanding the requirements involved in demonstrating meaningful use. A quarter of organizations cited the challenge.

Other issues facing organizations is training and changing management efforts (20%); capturing the relevant data electronically as part of clinical workflows (18%); lack of a dedicated meaningful use team (12%); and not having the appropriate certified technology (6%).

Mike Beaty, principal and KPMG Healthcare IT enablement leader, stressed the importance of effective adoption since each successive stage builds upon the one that came before it.

Plus, the benefits of the EHR could be ruined if organizations don’t redesign workflows before implementing the system, according to Joe Kuehn, partner and KPMG Healthcare financial management leader. They then run the risk of wasting expensive equipment that never even achieves the meaningful use threshold.

“In the long-term, EHR implementation is a critical driver for clinical and other business intelligence mandates,” said Kuehn. “Health care organizations must consider other important mandates, including ICD-10 and accountable care capabilities, in concert with the EHR transformation. This will help promote sustainability and future return on investment.”