Three French Hens
It is day three of our 12 Days of Christmas Posts and like three French hens, the three stages of meaningful use marched along in 2014. It was not a drama-less year though as organizations pressed CMS to continue the 3 month reporting period requirement for Stage 2 and beyond. Additionally, a bill was introduced on September 16, 2014 by Renee Ellmers of North Carolina that addresses this reporting issue. Read more about H.R. 5481.
No surprise, the AMA continued to blow its horn on the entire program, issuing their own blueprint on how they would like to fix meaningful use. Read more here.
Here’s a look back at three  highlights for each stage. .
[content_box type=”with-header” title=”Stage 1 Meaningful Use – 2011 Edition” text_color=”dark” color=”default”]
Through October of 2014, approximately $26B in incentives have been paid to date to 300,000 EPs and 5,000 EHs. For full numbers on both the medicare and medicaid payouts, view or download a PDF of the HIT Policy Committee report from December 9, 2014.
According to data released by CMS under the Freedom of Information Act, 22% of Eligible Professionals audited for the EHR Incentive program failed. The failure rate for hospitals is 5%. Read Jim Tate’s post for more information on audit numbers.
2014 is the last year to start the EHR incentive program to avoid 2015 penalties.[/content_box]
[content_box type=”with-header” title=”Stage 2 Meaningful Use – 2014 Edition” text_color=”dark” color=”default”]
Through October of 2014, approximately 750k in incentives have been paid to date to 15,000 EPs and 500 EHs.
Just hours before the start of the Labor Day weekend, ONC and CMS released the newest final rule for the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs. The rule allows more flexibility in how certified electronic health record (EHR) technology (CEHRT) is used to meet meaningful use in the 2014 reporting period. Specifically, 2011 Edition CEHRT or a combination of 2011 and 2014 Edition CEHRT in 2014 will be able to be used moving the 2014 CEHRT requirement forward to 2015. The rule also finalizes the extension of Stage 2 through 2016 for certain providers.
CMS extended the deadline for EHs and Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) to attest to meaningful use for the Medicare Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Program 2014 reporting year from 11:59 pm EST on November 30, 2014 to 11:59 pm EST on December 31, 2014. The extension gives hospitals a little bit more time  to submit their meaningful use data and receive an incentive payment for the 2014 program year, as well as avoid the 2016 Medicare payment adjustment.
[/content_box]
[content_box type=”with-header” title=”Stage 3 Meaningful Use – 2017 Edition” text_color=”dark” color=”default”]
The newest final rule for the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Program released last August announces the Stage 3 timeline, which will begin in 2017 for providers who started the program in 2011 or 2012.
Draft recommendations for Stage 3 MU requirements were submitted this spring. View what’s been proposed.
Stage 3 represents the final stage of the Meaningful Use program, and focuses on using the technology implemented in the first two stages to improve healthcare outcomes with an emphasis on patient engagement, care coordination and population health management.[/content_box]