Review Changes in Stage 1 MU Criteria that Begin in Fiscal Year 2014
The following is correspondence from CMS.
Is your Medicare eligible hospital or critical access hospital (CAH) participating or planning to participate in Stage 1 of the Medicare or Medicaid EHR Incentive Program this year? The Stage 2 rule for meaningful use included changes to Stage 1 requirements that took effect at the start of the 2014 fiscal year on October 1, 2013. These changes include:
Record and Chart Changes in Vital Signs
Change: The age limit increased for recording blood pressure in patients, from age 2 to age 3; there is no age limit for height and weight.
2014 Measure: For more than 50 percent of all unique patients admitted to the eligible hospital’s or CAH’s inpatient or emergency department (POS 21 or 23) during the EHR reporting period, blood pressure (for patients age 3 and over only) and height and weight (for all ages) should be recorded as structured data.
Patient Electronic Access
Change: Core objective “Electronic copy of health information” and core objective “Electronic copy of discharge instructions” are combined to become the new “View online, download, and transmit” core objective.
2014 Measure: More than 50 percent of all unique patients discharged from the inpatient or emergency departments of the eligible hospital or CAH (POS 21 or 23) during the EHR reporting period have access to their information online within 36 hours of discharge.
Clinical Quality Measure (CQM) Reporting
Change: Reporting CQMs is still required, but it has been removed as a separate objective.
Stage 1 Resources
Resources to help you understand changes to Stage 1 of meaningful use are available on the EHR Incentive Programs website, including: