The following is email communication from CMS.
If you are an eligible provider participating in the EHR Incentive Programs, you will have the option of reporting the Summary of Care menu objective in Stage 1, but will be required to meet the core objective in Stage 2.
CMS wants to ensure providers are able to meet Measure #2 of the Summary of Care objective in Stage 2. Below is some additional guidance to help you meet the measure.
Guidance for Meeting Measure #2
For Measure #2 of the Stage 2 Summary of Care objective, an eligible professional, eligible hospital or critical access hospital (CAH) may count a transition of care or referral in its numerator for the measure if they electronically create and send a summary of care document when a third party organization is involved so long as:
- The summary of care document is created using certified EHR technology (CEHRT);
- The summary of care document electronically transmitted by the eligible professional, eligible hospital, or CAH to the third party organization is done so using EITHER:
- their CEHRT’s transport standard capability; or
- an exchange facilitated by an organization that is an eHealth Exchange participant.
- The third party organization can confirm for the sending provider that the summary of care document was ultimately received by the next provider of care.
In instances where a “third party organization that plays a role in determining the next provider of care and ultimately delivers the summary of care document” is involved, the service the third party provides does not have to be certified for the transmission to be counted in the numerator for Measure #2. Nor are there any specific requirements around the technical standards or methods by which the third party delivers the summary of care document to the receiving provider (e.g., SOAP, secure email, fax).
For More Information
For more information, read the updated FAQ. For additional Stage 2 resources, visit the Stage 2 webpage of the EHR Incentive Programs website.