While most physician groups have complained that meaningful use provisions mandating high levels of patient engagement are too onerous, one organization is saying the regulations do not go far enough.

While voicing its support for the broader goals of the meaningful use program, the American Medical Association detailed a number of concerns with the Stage 2 regulations in a recent letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

In a sign that federal regulators may be willing to give some ground in the meaningful use rules, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator Marilyn Tavenner recently recognized that the agency has "a lot of work to do" and is willing to collaborate with industry groups.

The Healthcare Informatics and Management Systems Society has filed its comments on the proposed Stage 2 meaningful use rules with federal regulators.

Despite continuing to push back against the timetable for government health IT initiatives, physician groups are offering support to help doctors adopt EHR and ePrescribing systems and avoid incurring penalties.

The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives has called on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to delay the implementation deadline for Stage 2 meaningful use, saying that physicians will not have enough time to comply with the new set of regulations.

A fight is brewing over one of the more contentious and controversial provisions of the Stage 2 meaningful use rules. The dustup comes just days before the comment period closes and regulators begin work on finalizing the rules for EHR use.

The meaningful use rules have played a major role in encouraging physicians to adopt electronic health record systems, but one lawmaker believes some physicians should be exempt from the regulations.

The Stage 2 meaningful use rules may have only been proposed a couple months ago but one group is saying federal agencies are running out of time to publish the final list of regulations.

The Stage 2 meaningful use rules set a much higher bar for data transfer among various providers. However, one expert believes that the technology specified in the new rules may not lead to the kind of free exchange of data that the healthcare system needs.

Experts continue to criticize the proposed meaningful use provision that requires physicians to get at least 10 percent of their patients to download their medical records.

Experts continue to criticize the proposed meaningful use provision that requires physicians to get at least 10 percent of their patients to download their medical records.

The final form of the meaningful use rules could still go through some changes, as federal rulemakers continue to express skepticism about some of the provisions in the set of regulations.

Physicians may have many reasons for wanting to adopt an EHR system, but a new survey indicates that the possibility of receiving incentive payments tops the list of motivators for most doctors.

Physicians may have many reasons for wanting to adopt an EHR system, but a new survey indicates that the possibility of receiving incentive payments tops the list of motivators for most doctors.

When the government's meaningful use incentive program was initially launched, hospitals and large health systems were the first to snap up bonus payments.

Many physicians and professional groups have expressed dissatisfaction with the Stage 2 meaningful use rule that would hold physicians accountable for whether or not their patients access information online.

Many doctors who did not successfully complete implementation of an ePrescribing system last year may be facing penalties in 2012.

In recent months, deadlines for compliance with several government health programs have been pushed back. This has caused some commentators to question the validity of future deadlines and whether these delays are adding confusion and regulatory burden.

The government's EHR incentive program has generated some encouraging numbers since the end of last year. Participation is up and the number of doctors who have adopted systems is at an all-time high. However, one group is urging caution when interpreting the numbers.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has published the proposed clinical quality measures that will be used to determine eligibility for incentive payments under the meaningful use program.

Among the regulations in the new meaningful use rules, the requirement for physicians to have 10 percent of their patients view and download information electronically may be the least popular.

Since the new meaningful use rules were announced in March, they have largely been viewed as positive. But not all provisions of the proposed regulations may make it into the final set of rules.

Participation in the government's ePrescribing program continues to grow and agencies are cutting even bigger incentive payment checks, according a new report from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

A large coalition of physicians' groups is calling on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to relax regulatory requirements, including those of the meaningful use program, in order to avoid an "imminent storm," as physicians face looming deadlines in multiple government programs.