HHS releases updated Meaningful Use rules — Breaking News

CMS and the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) for Health Information Technology jointly proposed the new requirements for providers, which CMS said was based on feedback from physicians on the real-world problems they have faced putting EHR to use in their practices.

On the one hand, he said, “we are pleased that CMS released the long-awaited modifications rule, which will allow hospitals a 90-day reporting period in 2015 along with other flexibilities in response to AHA concerns”.

American Osteopathic Association Vice President of Public Policy Laura Wooster expressed disappointment that the timeline for Stage 3 was not “more aligned” with the Medicaid and CHIP Reauthorization Act (Frieden, MedPage Today, 10/7). For example, CHIME discovered unintended consequences in the final Stage 1 rule several weeks after it was initially released by CMS.

Industry stakeholders had mixed reactions to CMS’ final rule for Stage 3 of the meaningful use program and modifications for 2015 through 2017, HealthLeaders Media reports (Mace, HealthLeaders Media, 10/7).

2017 will still be an optional Stage 3 reporting year.

Key to that, of course, is the 90-day reporting period, which was reduced from 365 days. They also made it so first-time meaningful use participants will have a 90-day reporting requirement in 2016 and 2017. Immature standards such as HPD for provider directory query have been removed.

Health data security is a crucial topic for covered entities of all sizes, and as the push to meet meaningful use requirements continues, organizations must remain current on how the two are connected.

“I want to say that things will change and I want to say that CMS is feeling the pressure and has heard the provider community to make this program work, but I don’t know”, she says.

I’ll post details and briefs on these rules in the next week. The CMS rule shortens that period to 90 days. That rule, according to ONC, focuses on increasing interoperability and improving transparency and competition in the health IT marketplace.

“We have a shared goal of electronic health records helping physicians, clinicians, and hospitals to deliver better care, smarter spending, and healthier people”, Patrick Conway, MD, CMS’s deputy administrator for innovation and quality, said in a press release.

Halamka’s take? “It remains to be seen how the comment period on the EHR Incentive Programs final rule will be used to align the Meaningful Use program with the (MACRA) effort”, he wrote. We support the confirmation of the 90-day reporting period for 2015.

Numerous specifics yesterday came as little surprise, having been hinted at in recent months or appearing in earlier proposed rules. This will be done through “the implementation of appropriate technical, administrative, and physical safeguards”, according to the finalized rule.

“In particular, the agency addressed the delay in issuing the modifications rule by allowing a hardship exemption for physicians who are unable to attest this year” – something AMA had called for within the past week – “providing needed relief for those uncertain about the 2015 program requirements”. We also acknowledge that the agency is working to improve patient engagement by ensuring that patients can access portals while still providing flexibility in the measure requirements.

Emphasis on measures that interoperability between patient and provider, with 60% of measures now focusing on exchange of health information.

CMS is providing a 60-day public comment period to gather input on the MU program moving forward and how Stage 3 requirements will fit into the new physician payment system-Merit-Based Incentive Payment System or “MIPS”-established by the permanent “doc fix” legislation. Hospitals will finally have the clarity they need to take steps to ensure they meet the revised requirements”. “We were hoping that would be changed”.

Dan Haley, general counsel of EHR vendor athenahealth, lamented the federal government’s progress, noting, “With each new delay, modification, and dilution of the [meaningful use] program it becomes more and more tangential to the ongoing process of dragging health IT into the 21st century”.