Do You Know the Facts about 2014 Meaningful Use?
By Kathy McCoy, Director, Content Marketing at HealthFusion
Twitter: @HealthFusionKMc
Meaningful Use can be confusing, with its different stages and requirements. To see if you’re up to speed, take the second part of our quiz on Meaningful Use. If you haven’t taken the first part of the quiz, you can find it here.
True or False
- You can be in Meaningful Use Stage 1 for two years.
- You don’t have to attest for Meaningful Use Stage 2 if you’ve already attested for Stage 1.
- You don’t have to attest for MU Stage 2 for a full year in 2014.
- If you’re attesting for both PQRS and MU, you have to submit separate Clinical Quality Measure (CQM) reports.
- Meaningful Use attestation periods are the same for Stage 1 and Stage 2.
Answers
- True – a provider can be in Meaningful Use Stage 1 for two years. For EPs who started in 2012 or later, you must attest for Meaningful Use Stage 1 for two years, and receive incentive payments for each year. See this Meaningful Use Timeline for more information.
- False – you do have to attest for Meaningful Use Stage 2 even if you’ve already attested for Stage 1.
Currently there is no guidance from CMS that states that the Meaningful Use program has an end. Based on what we know today, if you don’t participate in new stages of Meaningful Use your practice will see progressively increasing payment adjustments (penalties) that begin in 2016 and loss of any incentive payments. - True – you don’t have to attest for MU Stage 2 for a full year in 2014. For 2014 only, all providers regardless of their stage of Meaningful Use are only required to demonstrate meaningful use for a three-month EHR reporting period for Medicare. This will need to be a calendar quarter depending on which stage and year you are in; see below.
For the Medicaid EHR Incentive Program, the timeline of reporting periods more or less follows the Medicare program – see this CMS pdf page 34. In 2014, States have the option to require a 90-day period for everyone in all stages of MU OR to require a 3-month calendar quarter reporting period for those beyond Stage 1 Year 1. Michigan, for example, has elected to do the latter, but other states’ requirements may vary. (With thanks to Philip Viges of Michigan Public Health Institute for the Medicaid information.) - False – If you’re attesting for both PQRS and MU, you don’t have to submit separate CQM reports.
In 2014, you can report CQMs for both PQRS and MU simultaneously—but it will delay your MU payment since you can’t attest for PQRS until after Dec. 31, 2014. Also note that they have different reporting periods: PQRS is a full 12 months, and MU is only 3 months. - False – Meaningful Use attestation periods are not the same for all stages in 2014.
- Medicare Stage 1 Meaningful Use First Year = 90 Day Period
- Medicare Stage 1 Meaningful Use Year 2 & 3 = Calendar Quarter
- Medicare Stage 2 Meaningful Use Year 1 = Calendar Quarter
- Medicaid Rega rdless of Stage = 90 Day Period
The Medicaid EHR program follows the following timeline for the reporting period:
- Stage 1 Year 1: 90 Day Reporting period (always)
- Stage 1 Year 2: Full 365-day Reporting period (except in 2014)
- Stage 2 Year 1: Full 365-day Reporting period (except in 2014)
Meaningful Use is very important to your income going forward, so you should carefully consider the impact to your practice if you decide not to attest. For more information on the program, see the CMS web pages on the program.
About the author: Kathy McCoy, MBA, has written on practice management and revenue cycle management for more than 5 years for leading medical software, medical marketing and medical billing companies and is currently Director, Content Marketing, for HealthFusion. She has more than 17 years of experience in continuing medical education, developing programs with respected educational institutions including Columbia University, Johns Hopkins, and Cleveland Clinic. Contact Kathy at kmccoy@HealthFusion.com.