Scott Mace | May 21, 2014
The proposed rule would give healthcare providers more flexibility in how they use electronic health record systems to meet Meaningful Use requirements and would formally extend the timelines for Stage 2 and Stage 3.
CMS’ meaningful use adoption timetable, recently bombarded by more bad news, is getting some breathing room.
On Tuesday, CMS published a proposed rule that would provide eligible professionals, eligible hospitals and critical access hospitals more flexibility in how they use electronic health record systems to meet Meaningful Use requirements.
The proposal from CMS and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT would let providers use 2011-certified EHRs, or a combination of 2011- and 2014-certified EHR technology, for the 2014 reporting period in Medicare and Medicaid EHR incentive programs.
Beginning in 2015, all eligible hospitals and professionals would still be required to report using 2014-certified EHR technology.
“We think this gives us the flexibility we’ve asked for,” said Russ Branzell, CHIME president and CEO. Branzell cautioned, however, that the government must usher its proposed rule through the usual process without delay, lest providers and physicians be reliant on the outcome of their previous requests for hardship exemptions, or else face penalties for not attesting for MU stage 2 in 2014.
“From what we know of normal NPRM reporting, with 60-day comment periods and all the minimum requirements, if they push through everything, you’re still talking late summer, early fall,” Branzell said.
The proposed rule also includes a provision that would formalize CMS and ONC’s previously stated intention to extend Stage 2 through 2016 and begin Stage 3 in 2017.
“Increasing the adoption of EHRs is key to improving the nation’s health care system and the steps we are taking today will give new options to those who, through no fault of their own, have been unable to get the new 2014 Edition technology, including those at high risk, such as smaller providers and rural hospitals,” said Karen DeSalvo, MD, national coordinator for health information technology.
At May’s meeting of ONC’s health IT policy committee meeting, it was revealed that only four eligible hospitals had attested for stage 2 of Meaningful Use through the first five months of HHS’ fiscal year. “That was really the wake-up call for them,” Branzell said.
“People aren’t attesting. They’re having problems getting their software,” Branzell said. “Even if they get their software, they’re having very difficult times getting it implemented. They’re not having time to put in the process improvement that they need. So we really do believe that if they can get this through the governmental process, then it will help a vast majority of our membership.”
Branzell does not believe that CMS’s latest actions indicate that the Meaningful Use program is in serious trouble.
“I don’t personally believe that,” he said. “We rushed into this so fast, and all people knew we did that. Government knew that. The industry knew that. The vendor community knew that. Some people can go fast, some people can go medium, and some have to go slow. We’ll be trying as hard as we can to get people through, but now we know we won’t be leaving people behind, but letting them work at the pace that’s reasonable for their organizations.”
CMS held the first of two listening sessions Tuesday morning to gauge current provider concerns with the current meaningful use timetable. Last week, John Halamka, CIO of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and co-chair of HHS’ HIT standards committee, predicted that only 20 percent of eligible hospitals would achieve Stage 2 of meaningful use in 2014.
In a blog post Tuesday night, Halamka welcomed the proposed rule. CMS and ONC “have proposed a rule that elegantly allows Meaningful Use attestation flexibility for 2014 while keeping the momentum going for product upgrades and 2015 attestation,” he wrote.
Source: Health Leaders Media
http://www.healthleadersmedia.com/content/TEC-304712/CMS-Proposes-Meaningful-Use-Extensions