In This Issue
* Medicaid MU Attestation Deadline: March 31
* Register Now for MU Audit Process Webinar Series
* Medicare Eligible Hospitals: Take Action by April 1
* EHR Attestation Deadline Extended for Medicare EPs
* ONC Data Brief #22
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Issue: 3                   
MARCH 2015 
Medicaid Meaningful Use Attestation  
Deadline approaching: March 31        
CMS reminds eligible professionals participating in the Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Programs that Dec. 31, 2014 marked the end of the 2014 calendar year (CY) and the end of the last 2014 EHR reporting period. If you are an eligible Illinois professional participating in the Medicaid EHR Incentive Program, you have until March 31, 2015 to attest to demonstrating meaningful use of the data collected during your EHR reporting period for the 2014 calendar year. Read the full story...

Register Now for Meaningful Use
Audit Process Webinar Series
 
      

Did you know 1 in 10 providers will receive an MU audit letter?
Are you prepared?
 

An IL-HITREC staff member will be among the panel of experts joining Telligen's 3-part webinar series about the Meaningful Use Audit Process. The series starts Wednesday, March 25, from 12:15-12:45 pm (CT). Additional webinars will be April 1 and April 8.

This webinar series will help you:
  • Understand the current audit process for the Medicare and
    Medicaid EHR Incentive Program
  • Learn how to prepare for an EHR Incentive Program audit
  • Comprehend the steps to complete a MU Audit appeal
Continue reading for complete details, including registration links.
Medicare Eligible Hospitals: Take Action
by April 1 to Avoid 2016 Payment Adjustment 
Payment adjustments for eligible hospitals that did not successfully participate in the Medicare EHR Incentive Program in 2014 will begin Oct. 1, 2015. Medicare eligible hospitals can avoid the 2016 payment adjustment by taking action by April 1 and  applying for a 2016 hardship exception.

 

The hardship exception application and instructions  for Medicare eligible hospitals are available on the  EHR Incentive Programs website, and outline the specific types of circumstances that CMS considers to be barriers to achieving meaningful use, and how to apply. Read the full story...  

EHR Attestation Deadline Extended for
Medicare Eligible Professionals: March 20
Eligible professionals now have until 11:59 pm ET on March 20, 2015, to attest to meaningful use for the Medicare Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Program 2014 reporting year. CMS extended the deadline (from Feb. 28) to allow providers extra time to submit their meaningful use data. CMS continues to urge providers to begin attesting for 2014 as soon as they can.  
 
This extension also allows eligible professionals, who have not already used their one "switch," to switch programs (from Medicare to Medicaid, or vice versa) for the 2014 payment year until 11:59 pm ET on March 20, 2015. After that time, eligible professionals will no longer be able to switch programs. Read the full story... 
ONC Data Brief #22: Hospital Reporting
on MU Public Health Measures in 2014

ONC on March 10, released a data brief  showing more hospitals are electronically sharing public health data, which research has shown can save time and resources during outbreak investigations. According to 2014 data from the Medicare EHR Incentive Program, hospitals at Stage 2 of meaningful use were electronically reporting to public health more than those that were only attesting to Stage 1. For these Stage 2 hospitals, 88 percent were electronically reporting to immunization registries, 85 percent were electronically submitting lab results, and 75 percent successfully reported the syndromic surveillance measure.


ONC conducted this analysis to highlight the electronic information exchange between hospitals and public health agencies to enhance public health's ability to monitor population health, identify disease outbreaks earlier, and facilitate better case management for individuals with diseases of public health concern.  Read more about the analyses and findings.