It's now 2015, and all Medicare providers will soon be required to at least begin demonstrating compliance with meaningful use of Electronic Health Records (EHR). Failing to meet this requirement will start to come with a penalty cost, as of the New Year, triggering a +1% reduction in Medicare reimbursement every year through at least 2017 and possibly later.
In 2015, CMS requires Stage Two Meaningful Use compliance by providers who have already fulfilled the Stage One requirements during the previous 2-3 years.
The core requirements for Stage Two compliance are dependent upon successful installation and mastery of sophisticated information systems that can support EHR exchange between providers and patients as well as between providers and other providers. Some of these are:
- Computerized entry of medication, labs, and radiology orders
- Electronic prescriptions
- Use of clinical decision support systems
- Online patient access to health records
- Online availability of lab results to patients/providers
- Secure electronic patient-to-provider messaging
Whether or not you need to be Stage Two ready by 2015 will depend on how long you have already proven Stage One compliance. The Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services has provided the following charts to help eligible providers identify where they currently stand in the MU Timeline, for both MU stage requirements (Figure 1) and EHR Incentive Payments (Figure 2).
FIGURE 1: Meaningful Use Stages Timeline
FIGURE 2: EHR Incentive Payment Timeline
To avoid missing out on incentive payments, it is important to know where your practice currently stands in the Meaningful Use timeline. Nextech will continue to offer solutions that are up-to-date with all government policies, from HIPAA to ICD-10 and through every stage of Meaningful Use.