On Friday, CMS announced a one-year extension for meaningful use stage 2.
Here are five things to know about the new timeline.
1. Under the revised timeline, stage 2 would be extended through 2016, and stage 3 will begin in 2017 (fiscal year 2017 for hospitals, calendar year 2017 for physicians) for those that have completed two years of stage 2.
2. The extension has two main goals: to allow CMS and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT to focus on successfully implementing the enhanced patient engagement, interoperability and health information requirements that are a part of stage 2 and to give the agencies time to use the data from stage 2 participation to inform policy decisions for stage 3, which would begin in 2017 for providers that have completed two years of stage 2.
3. The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT has proposed 2015 Edition certification criteria that would address issues in the 2014 Edition criteria as identified by industry stakeholders and help the industry move closer to complete interoperability.
4. According to CMS, the extended timeline is partly in response to comments from industry stakeholders. Over the past months, the Health Information Management Systems Society, American Hospital Association, College of Healthcare Information Management Executives, Medical Group Management Association and 17 U.S. senators have all called for more time for healthcare organizations to attest to meaningful use stage 2.
5. More information about stage 3 requirements and more detail about the new attestation timeline are expected in the fall of 2014.
More Articles on Meaningful Use:
CMS Proposes Extending MU2 Through 2016
16 Statistics on Providers Receiving MU Payments in October
CMS: $17B Paid So Far in MU Incentives