New policies adopted at the 2014 AMA Annual Meeting this week included calls for sorely needed changes to health IT to accommodate physicians and patients’ needs.
The policies include:
- Requiring all pharmacies—including those run by the government—to accept ePrescriptions. The policy directs the AMA to advocate for suspension of the ePrescribing requirements in the electronic health record (EHR) meaningful use program until all pharmacies are able to comply with this requirement.
- Addressing “data lock-in,” in which information stored in one EHR system cannot be easily transferred to another system. One of the largest challenges with EHR technology is the lack of interface between systems, which often prevents physicians from communicating with other practices or hospitals and from easily switching from one EHR vendor to another. The policy directs the AMA to work with the federal government and EHR vendors to enhance transparency and establish a process to achieve data exchange.
- Promoting improvements in EHR usability. Additional policy called for the AMA to engage the EHR vendor community to secure changes to their systems that would better meet physicians’ practice needs.
A panel discussion during the 2014 AMA Annual Meeting explored some of these issues in more detail. It also highlighted how the AMA already is pressing for critical improvements to EHR systems and the meaningful use program through its advocacy efforts and its Professional Satisfaction and Practice Sustainability initiative.
