Letters from Clinics to Support Small-Practice Exemption MN‐Only Electronic Health Record Mandate

On April 22, CCHF Delivered Four Binders of Petitions to Rep. Mack and Sen. Sheran; CCHF Now Gathering Letters from Clinics to Support Small-Practice Exemption from MN-Only Electronic Health Record Mandate

Petitions support the Federal EHR opt-out standard available in 49 states. Clinic letters support HF 1535, authored by Rep. Tara Mack, exempting medical practices of up to 7 providers from Minnesota’s Interoperable Electronic Health Record (EHR) Mandate

Key Facts:

1. Under MN law, as of January 1, 2015, all health care providers (e.g. doctors, dentists, chiropractors) must employ an electronic health records system.
2. Doctor’s offices and clinics face burdensome costs of upwards of $15,000 to $70,000 to install and maintain these systems, plus a monthly fee. (HealthIT.gov)
3. EHRs negatively impact patient-doctor relationships, as doctors are often more focused on the computer screen than on the patient.
4. EHRs are not private, and interoperable EHRs make private patient data accessible to many individuals and organizations.
5. Minnesota is the only state in the country with no opt-out provision.

Physicians and other practitioners in Minnesota are urging support for the “up to 7 health care providers” exemption language in HF 1535.

Attached are seven letters—written by small-group practices as well as by solo practitioners—urging the Minnesota legislature to support the language in HF 1535 to exempt small medical practices from this costly and intrusive mandate that may also potentially force small practices to close their doors or consolidate with larger more impersonal systems.