Question: When meeting the meaningful use measure for computerized provider order entry (CPOE), does an individual need to have the job title of medical assistant in order to use the CPOE function of certified EHR technology for the entry to count toward the measure, or can they have other titles as long as their job functions are those of medical assistants?
Answer FAQ #9058: If a staff member of the eligible provider is appropriately credentialed and performs similar assistive services as a medical assistant but carries a more specific title due to either specialization of their duties or to the specialty of the medical professional they assist, he or she can use the CPOE function of CEHRT and have it count towards the measure. This determination must be made by the eligible provider based on individual workflow and the duties performed by the staff member in question. Read the complete answer.
Question: For the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs, how should an eligible professional (EP), eligible hospital, or critical access hospital attest if the certified EHR vendor uses 2011 edition certified EHR technology for the first part of 2013 and 2014 edition certified EHR technology for the remainder of 2013?
Answer FAQ #9060: If an EP, eligible hospital or CAH switches from 2011 edition Certified EHR Technology to 2014 Edition Certified EHR Technology during the program year, the data collected for the selected menu objectives and quality measures should be combined from both of the EHR systems for attestation. The count of unique patients does not need to be reconciled when combining from the two EHR systems. Read the complete answer.
Question: The specifications for Denominator 2 for measure CMS64v2 do not produce an accurate calculation according to the measure’s intent. When will a correction to this clinical quality measure (CQM) be published?
Answer FAQ #9062: The Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Records (EHR) Incentive Programs Stage 2 final rule (77 FR 54056) states that updates to the CQM specifications may be published annually approximately 6 months prior to the beginning of the calendar year (CY) for which the data would be collected (e.g., for the EHR reporting periods in CY 2014, approximately 6 months in advance of the beginning of CY 2014). A correction for this measure will be included in the next annual update, to be published in CY 2014. Read the complete answer.
Question: For the meaningful use Stage 2′s transitions of care and referrals objective, in what ways can the second measure be met that requires more than 10% of the summary care records provided for transitions of care and referrals to be electronically transmitted in the EHR Incentive programs?
Answer FAQ #9064: An EP, eligible hospital, or critical access hospital (CAH) could use three approaches) to meet this measure.
For the first two approaches, this measure can only be met if the EP, eligible hospital, or CAH uses the capabilities and standards included as part of its Certified EHR Technology (CEHRT) to electronically transmit summary care records for transitions of care and referrals (specifically those capabilities certified to the certification criterion adopted by the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) at 45 CFR 170.314(b)(2) “transitions of care – create and transmit transition of care/referral summaries,” which specifies standards for data content and transport). Read the complete answer.
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