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In this issue
- CMS releases
"meaningful use" rules, financial incentive details
announced
CMS
releases "meaningful use" rules, financial incentive details
announced
The
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) just released a notice of
proposed rulemaking (NPRM) and the Office of the National Coordinator for
Health Information Technology (ONC) has released an interim final rule
regarding the electronic health record (EHR) incentive program mandated as
part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). The
regulations are part of a comprehensive program authorized by ARRA to
create a nationwide, interoperable, secure and private electronic health
information system.
The
CMS proposed rule outlines the complex provisions related to the
requirement that professionals must be “meaningful users” of “certified”
EHRs. Beginning in 2011, those qualifying professionals are eligible for up
to $44,000 in Medicare incentives or up to $63,750 in Medicaid incentives.
The ONC interim final rule details the initial standards, implementation
specifications and certification criteria for EHR technology. Through these
incentives, CMS hopes to expand the meaningful use of certified EHR
technology and improve health care quality, efficiency and patient
safety.
CMS
proposes a phased approach to achieving meaningful use by eligible
professionals between 2011 and 2015, with each of the three stages
requiring escalating requirements. The meaningful use criteria proposed for
stage one predominately focuses on electronically capturing health
information in a coded format; using that information to track key clinical
conditions and communicating that information for care coordination
purposes; implementing clinical decision support tools to facilitate
disease and medication management; and reporting clinical quality measures
and public health information. CMS intends to update the stage two and
three criteria through future rulemaking.
MGMA
has developed a comprehensive three-part Webinar
series to help members understand the specifics of the incentive program
and how to select and implement an EHR that best meets your organization's
clinical and administrative requirements.
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Dec. 31, 2009
Member Resources
Healthcare Reform Resource Center
Medicare
Provider Enrollment Toolkit
Physician Quality Reporting Initiative Resource Center
Recovery Audit Contractors Resource Center
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