CMS has released a new interactive tool to help hospitals understand how a proposed change to this year's meaningful use reporting would affect them.
In May, CMS issued a proposed rule that would allow providers that were not able to fully implement 2014 Edition certified EHR technology in time to successfully attest to meaningful use would be able to use 2011 Edition CEHRT, a combination of 2011 and 2014 Edition to attest to either stage 1 or stage 2. Providers would also be able to attest to meaningful use under the 2013 reporting year definition and use 2013's clinical quality measures. For the 2015 reporting period, all providers would have to use 2014 Edition CEHRT.
Providers can use the new tool to determine their attestation options for this year based on their current EHR system.
The proposed flexibility was welcomed by providers and stakeholders, though the timeline of the proposal itself has created uncertainty. The public comment period on the proposed rule is 60 days from the May 20 post date and the final meaningful use reporting period for hospitals for 2014 began July 1. The American Hospital Association has urged CMS to quickly adopt the proposed flexibility, though the rule is not yet in effect.
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