Hospitals and physicians who are eligible for participating in Medicare's electronic health record (EHR) incentive program can start attesting April 18 that they meet the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' meaningful use requirements.
CMS has released an online preview that includes attestation screenshots -- giving examples of what the attestation process will look like. CMS notes, though, that the screenshots are only examples, and that the final appearance and language may change. The agency will release additional information about the attestation process soon, including user guides with step-by-step instructions for completing attestation.
Already, CMS has distributed about $37.6 million in incentive payments to EHR meaningful users, Government Health IT reports. And more than 25,217 active registrations of eligible professionals and eligible hospitals have been made for both the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs, according to CMS.
CMS notes that providers will need to understand the required meaningful use criteria that applies to them. "Meaningful use requirements for eligible professionals, eligible hospitals, and critical access hospitals participating in the Medicare EHR Incentive Program are different," the agency says.
Physicians and other medical professionals, for instance, must report on 15 core measures, five of 10 menu measures, and six clinical quality measures, which consist of three required core measures and three additional measures. Hospitals must report on 14 core measures, five of 10 menu measures, and 15 clinical quality measures.
For the Medicaid EHR Incentive Program, providers will follow a similar process using their state's Attestation System. The dates that each state intends to begin accepting registrations for their Medicaid EHR Incentive Program varies -- although CMS has prepared a list providing further information.
For more details:
- see the CMS online preview
- read the Government Health IT article
- see the InformationWeek article
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