08 May CMS proposes a new “Interoperability forward” Meaningful Use program
“We envision a system that rewards value over volume and where patients reap the benefits through more choices and better health outcomes,” Ms. Seema Verma
In an update for EHR incentive programs, CMS on April 14th renamed its meaningful use program to “Promoting Interoperability” emphasizing their latest priority in healthcare interoperability. Taking a patient centric stance, CMS is now requiring hospitals and healthcare providers make the patients’ EHR healthcare data available to them as soon as discharge. Here are a few highlights:
- The Meaningful Use program, which was rolled into the MIPS program as “Advancing Care Information” earlier in 2017 with 8 measures will now only focus on 4 measures, namely; E-prescribing, Health information exchange, Provider-to-provider exchange and Public health and clinical data exchange.
- The proposed rule echoes the requirement for providers to use the 2015 ONC certified edition EHR in 2019 to demonstrate meaningful use, to qualify for incentive payments and to avoid reductions to Medicare payments.
- Special emphasis has been given to development of API (application programming interfaces) based transaction, for patients to collect their health information from multiple providers, and to possibly incorporate all of their data into a single portal, application, program, or other software.
- Taking an aggressive position on healthcare interoperability the CMS has suggested it may mandates hospitals to electronically transfer all medical information to another healthcare facility or to the patient upon discharge / transition of care as a condition of eligibility for the program.
On the eCQM side (electronic clinical quality measure), for the CY 2017, EHs and CAHs would have to report two quarters of CQM data for at least six eCQMs which is a reduction from the eight CQMs previously required of EHs and CAHs to report for a full year in 2017.
For 2018, CMS proposes to modify the EHR reporting periods in both Medicare and Medicaid to at least any continuous 90-day period during the calendar year instead of a full year.
Final Rule, Click here.
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