Stage 3 Meaningful Use: What’s Being Proposed and How You Can Comment

The proposed rule for the long-awaited final stage of the EHR Incentive Program was released last month – here are a few key highlights and options for you to provide feedback on the rule before it’s finalized.

The Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) released the Notice for Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) for Stage 3 of Meaningful Use on March 20^th and is leaving the rule open for feedback from the health care community before it becomes final. Some key highlights of the NPRM include:

OVERALL: Stage 3 would be the final stage in Meaningful Use. Generally, the rule proposes simplified reporting requirements and reduced program complexity. Paper-based formats would no longer be allowed to meet measures.

TIMELINES: The proposed timeline dictates that all providers will be in Stage 3 by 2018 regardless of their participation in other stages. All providers would report on a calendar year starting in 2017 to better align with other quality improvement program timelines.

OBJECTIVES: Objectives and timelines would be aligned for providers, hospitals and critical access hospitals. There are eight objective areas, which is reduced from other stages, but under each objective, there are multiple measures. The eight objective areas are: Protect Patient Health Information, Electronic Prescribing, Clinical Decision Support, Computerized Provider Order Entry, Patient Electronic Access to Health Information, Coordination of Care Through Patient Engagement, Health Information Exchange, and Public Health and Clinical Data Registry Reporting.

QUALITY MEASURES: Clinical Quality Measures (CQMs) better align with other quality improvement initiatives in the industry. Industry experts are being tapped to come up with CQMs for certain areas, such as pediatrics.

Feedback Webinars

HHS has asked for feedback on the proposed rule by May 29^th. CORHIO is working with stakeholders across the state to submit feedback as a group. To provide an open forum for feedback, we are offering webinars on three different days (below). Tracy McDonald, Medicaid EHR Incentive Coordinator, will give an overview of the NPRM for Stage 3 Meaningful Use. This is a great opportunity to better understand the proposed changes scheduled to begin in 2017 and to offer your opinions on the direction of this program.

• May 11, noon – 1:00 pm
• May 12, 8:00 – 9:00 am
• May 15, 11:00 am – noon

For more information and to register, go to www.corhio.org/events.

If you cannot attend any of these days and are interested in providing feedback, please email Tracy McDonald at MedicaidEHR@corhio.org