George Hripcsak, MD, the co-chair of the workgroup and a biomedical informatics professor at Columbia University, said the following during a Health IT advisory group meeting as reported by Healthcare IT News:

None would be dropped in the area of privacy and security. “You can do things that are easy to measure, and you want to make sure it’s done for some but not measures that force more manual labor,” Hripcsak said.

I think this is a very very good point. The idea that “meaningful use” will end up being satisfied thanks to more manual labor is sad to consider, but a very possible outcome. I’ve already heard people talking about how they’re going to satisfy the meaningful use requirements and many of the reporting components require a lot of manual footwork.

One thing is certain from my point of view. The meaningful use bar as it is now will be a major hindrance to doctors interested in finally implementing an EMR for stimulus money. I’m not sure if they’ll find this out before implementing or after they’ve implemented. Either way, it will not achieve the desired outcomes.

If you are interested, you can listen to the HIT Policy Committee meeting tomorrow, at 10 AM Eastern. Find all the details of the webcast here.