Feds received 2,700 comment letters on meaningful use and standards rules

The comment period on the proposed meaningful use rule and the interim standards final rule closed Monday. On Wednesday, federal officials said they had so far collected some 2,700 comment letters.

Steve Posnack, a policy analyst with the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology said ONC received 700 comment letters on the standards interim rule. After reviewing them, ONC found that only 300 of them were "relevant," Posnack said Wednesday at a meeting of the HIT Policy Committee. According to Jodi Daniel, director of the ONC Office of Policy and Research, because the standards rule is a interim final rule, there is very little the government is allowed to change, by law. Recommendations can only be acted upon by ONC if they expand on what is already in the rule.

Tony Trenkle, director of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' (CMS) Office of E-Health Standards and Services said CMS has so far read almost half of the 2,000 comment letters it received on the meaningful use proposed rule, with a few more expected to trickle in over the next few days. Most of the letters were well thought-out, and reflected the need for balance between setting standards high enough for data collection and ease of healthcare IT adoption.