Blumenthal seeks better planning for Stage 2

Dr David Blumenthal, the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology at Department of Health and Human Services, said planners developing Stage 2 meaningful-use criteria under the federal electronic health-record incentive program will have slightly more strategic-thinking time than they had in creating Stage 1 criteria.

"We're mindful of the fact that the first go-round was very rushed," Dr Blumenthal told members of the federally chartered Health IT Policy Committee. Working under such tight deadlines "didn't allow for careful forward planning," Dr Blumenthal said. "I want to do better this time." To qualify for federal EHR incentive payments, providers must use EHRs in a "meaningful manner," meeting criteria that the ONC and CMS set after receiving recommendations from the committee. Oct. 1 was the start date for hospitals for the first payment year of the incentive program; the Stage 1 criteria are good for two years.