The first four installments of this five-part series on EHR Meaningful Use concentrated on Stage 1 of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Record Incentive Programs.
PART 1: EHR Meaningful Use - Why, how to, and how much?
PART 2: EHR Meaningful Use - Preparing to Attest
PART 3: EHR Meaningful Use - Protecting ePHI
PART 4: EHR Meaningful Use - During Attestation
The incentive program is divided into three stages:
- Stage 1 sets the basic functionalities electronic health records must include.
- Stage 2 increases health information exchange between providers and promotes patient engagement by giving patients secure online access to their ePHI.
- Stage 3 will continue to expand MU objectives.
In this last installment, we want to take a look forward to Stage 2 because last week CMS announced the final rule to govern this stage. The rule specifies the Stage 2 criteria that eligible professionals, eligible hospitals, and critical access hospitals must meet in order to continue to participate in the EHR Incentive Programs.
The requirements announced August 23, 2012:
- Make clear that Stage 2 of the program will begin as early as 2014. No providers will be required to follow the Stage 2 requirements before 2014;
- Outline the certification criteria for the certification of EHR technology, so eligible professionals and hospitals may be assured that the systems they use will work, help them meaningfully use health information technology, and qualify for incentive payments;
- Modify the certification program to cut red tape and make the certification process more efficient; and
- Allow current "2011 Edition Certified EHR Technology" to be used until 2014.
The CMS final rule also provides a flexible reporting period for 2014 to give providers sufficient time to adopt or upgrade to the latest EHR technology certified for 2014.
A fact sheet on CMS's final rule is available at http://www.cms.gov/apps/media/fact_sheets.asp. A detailed fact sheet on ONC's standards and certification criteria final rule is available at http://healthit.hhs.gov/standardsandcertification. Purdue Healthcare Advisors (formerly the Purdue Regional Extension Center) offers EHR Meaningful Use guidance, attestation support, and security risk assessments to all physicians and practice groups. If you need additional guidance, contact Account Manager Caren Crum at (765) 494-9204 or carencrum@purdue.edu.
Purdue University has spent the past year helping more than 2,400 Indiana primary care physicians and more than 30 hospitals as they seek to comply with the "Meaningful Use" standards associated with electronic health records systems (EHRs).
