In 2010, the Central Ohio Health Information Exchange (COHIE) was designated as the Regional Extension Center (REC) for a 14-county central Ohio region. A grant through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funded COHIE's mission to assist over 1,350 primary care providers through the process of selecting, adopting and implementing electronic medical records, as well as reaching Meaningful Use (MU) of their systems.

The central Ohio region has consistently been a leader in the rate of adoption of EHR. Despite the challenges that inherently accompany change, central Ohio providers have worked diligently and COHIE has been honored to assist with the process.

On February 6, 2014, the terms of COHIE's grant will have been met.  Although COHIE will no longer be serving the central Ohio region, providers are encouraged to continue working closely with your consultants or technical staff as questions arise.

Please note that COHIE will continue to be available to providers through February 6, 2014. Should you have questions or need additional information, please contact Tim Bangert at timb@cohie.org.

Progress of COHIE program as of December 2013 

CMS Announcement:
Meaningful Use Stage 2 Extended to 2016

On December 13, 2013, CMS made the significant announcement that the Meaningful Use Stage 2 deadline will be extended to 2016. MU Stage 3 will subsequently commence in 2017 for those providers that have completed a minimum of two years of MU Stage 2. 

According to CMS, the reason for the changes were to "allow CMS and ONC to focus efforts on the successful implementation of the enhanced patient engagement, interoperability and health information exchange requirements in Stage 2; and second, to utilize data from Stage 2 participation to inform policy decisions for Stage 3." Click here to learn more.

COHIE will provide more information related to the details of these changes as they are announced. In the meantime, please contact Tim Bangert with questions at timb@cohie.org. 

Meaningful Use Audits
What You Don't Know May Hurt You

The benefits of adopting, implementing and reaching Meaningful Use (MU) of an EHR system are many, not the least of which are the incentive payments from CMS. However, failing a CMS Meaningful Use Audit can have serious consequences, including the loss of past and future incentive payments.

The Ohio Health Information Partnership is providing detailed information on how to avoid noncompliance should you find that your practice is being audited.  Click here for their initial installment on security requirements. 

For future installments, check back at Ohio Health Information Partnership's website by clicking here.