Bill seeks 'parity' in MU incentives

Showing the power of the healthcare industry on Capitol Hill, a new bill that would require the government to treat multi-hospital systems the same for purposes of Meaningful Use, whether or not they had a single Medicare number, has gained 50 cosponsors in the House. But it's unclear that the proposed legislation, which is similar to House and Senate bills that failed to pass last year, will be adopted this time around. Rep. Michael C. Burgess, MD, (R-TX), Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY), Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX) and Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY) introduced the Equal Access and Parity for Multi-Campus Hospitals Act, HR 2500, on July 12. The measure aims to change how the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services defines multi-facility healthcare organizations for purposes of determining the incentives paid to those that show Meaningful Use of electronic health records.