The news came as a surprise to many in the healthcare industry. On January 11, Andy Slavitt, CMS acting administrator, announced during the 34th Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference that CMS is “ending Meaningful Use and moving to a new regime culminating with the MACRA implementation.”
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The comment period for the final Stage 3 rules has come and gone. But provider groups and legislative groups have been busy spreading the word about concerns they have for the program and what changes should be made.
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The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services last week released proposed final rules for its Stage 2 and 3 Meaningful Use programs. And, of course, the regulations came through in a lengthy tome that could put the Sandman out of business.
The good news? We’ve meticulously reviewed the revamped rules so you don’t have to. And, the even better news: We discovered that the proposed rules incorporate several modifications that could help small physician practices sigh in relief.
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Many practices have been busy attesting to Meaningful Use (MU) objectives, many of which pertain to HIPAA privacy and security. Privacy- and security-related MU measures include those that address the protection of electronic protected health information (ePHI) from unauthorized access. These measures also allow patients themselves to access their own ePHI. This article explores several MU measures that relate to keeping patients’ ePHI private and secure. Physicians must be aware of these measures and take steps to ensure compliance.
Although electronic health records (EHR) have gained traction over the last few years due to Meaningful Use incentives, more rapid adoption will occur only when physicians see the value in using this technology to improve care. The EHR’s usability is a critical part of this. Physicians must be able to use the EHR to support clinical decision-making in such a way that can be easily updated and modified to meet clinical goals. Vendors and providers must work together to achieve the goal of Meaningful Use stage 3—that is, to improve the quality, safety, and efficiency of healthcare.
This article addresses the challenges that physicians face with EHR adoption and provides several ways in which the technology can be improved to enhance positive outcomes.
Physician adoption of electronic health records (EHR) has certainly increased over the last decade thanks in part to Meaningful Use (MU) incentives. In 2013, 78% of office-based physicians used some type of EHR system, up from only 18% in 2001, according to the 2013 National Ambulatory Medical Care Physician Workflow Study. However, adoption rate varies widely by state, ranging from 21% in New Jersey to 83% in North Dakota, according to the data.
So, are you going to survive a meaningful use audit? Attesting to receive an EHR incentive payment puts a physician at risk of audit, but managing your documentation is all it takes to get through the process. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services asks providers participating in the program to save evidence necessary to support claims made during attestment – no more, no less.
The catch is you must provide all relevant documentation with no gaps in the information. Consider some common sense survival tips to get you through a meaningful use audit.
There is a 20% chance that you as an eligible provider may get audited and will be required to substantiate every single measure, eligibility requirement, or even ownership of a certified EHR.
With meaningful use entering Stage 2, there is one word popping up on the horizon for practitioners participating in this EHR metric system – audit. Meaningful use comes with some significant financial payouts, but only for those who met the criteria. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, CMS, points out that any providers receiving incentive payments in this program are potentially subject to an audit.
With all the hype that went into the launch of ICD-10, there is a lot of debate on how the delay, signed into law by President Obama on April 2, will affect the healthcare community. The 10th revision of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems was slated to go live this year, but that changed when Congress passed H.R. 4302. How will the wasted momentum affect medical practices and EHR implementation?
