This article is written by Zubin Emsley, chief executive officer, ChartLogic
1. The new Stage 2 rules now officially start on Jan. 1, 2014 for everyone. Eligible providers (EPs) who attested under the Meaningful Use (MU) Stage 1 rules in 2011 may now collect three years of Stage 1 payments and they have until 2014 to meet Stage 2 requirements.
CMS dropped an earlier proposal that EPs who first attested in 2011 would have to qualify for Stage 2 in 2013.
2. If you initially attest to Stage 1 requirements this year (2012), you will be eligible for two years of Stage 1 payments and then two years of Stage 2 payments. If you first attest in 2013, 2014, 2015 or 2016, you will still start in Stage 1.
3. In announcing the new Stage 2 rules, the CMS has placed a new emphasis on the electronic capture of health information in a structured format (e.g. the new CDA or clinical document architecture). Also CMS wants to increase the exchange of clinical information between providers at transitions of care.
Thus, in Stage 2, EPs will be required to provide an electronic summary of care record for at least 65% of transitions of care and referrals.
In addition, the new Stage 2 requirements include a requirement that EPs send at least 10 percent of their electronic summary of care records to recipients who have no organizational affiliation (e.g. outside their hospital or medical group) and who use a different EHR system.
4. Orthopedists and other specialists who depend upon tests where the result is an image, must demonstrate under Stage 2 rules that 40 percent of those images are accessible through a certified EHR. It is not clear at this point whether this applies to just the image or also includes a requirement that the text (e.g. clinical note) accompanying the image be in a structured format within the EHR.
5. The MU Stage 2 rules also include a new requirement that 55 percent of all clinical lab tests ordered by the EP during the reporting period (where the results are a numeric or positive/negative format) must be incorporated in the provider's EHR as structured data (e.g. in the CDA format). However, an EP who does not order lab tests in this format (e.g. many radiologists) is exempt.
ChartLogic is a leading national provider of EHR systems. For more information see www.ChartLogic.com.
CMS dropped an earlier proposal that EPs who first attested in 2011 would have to qualify for Stage 2 in 2013.
2. If you initially attest to Stage 1 requirements this year (2012), you will be eligible for two years of Stage 1 payments and then two years of Stage 2 payments. If you first attest in 2013, 2014, 2015 or 2016, you will still start in Stage 1.
3. In announcing the new Stage 2 rules, the CMS has placed a new emphasis on the electronic capture of health information in a structured format (e.g. the new CDA or clinical document architecture). Also CMS wants to increase the exchange of clinical information between providers at transitions of care.
Thus, in Stage 2, EPs will be required to provide an electronic summary of care record for at least 65% of transitions of care and referrals.
In addition, the new Stage 2 requirements include a requirement that EPs send at least 10 percent of their electronic summary of care records to recipients who have no organizational affiliation (e.g. outside their hospital or medical group) and who use a different EHR system.
4. Orthopedists and other specialists who depend upon tests where the result is an image, must demonstrate under Stage 2 rules that 40 percent of those images are accessible through a certified EHR. It is not clear at this point whether this applies to just the image or also includes a requirement that the text (e.g. clinical note) accompanying the image be in a structured format within the EHR.
5. The MU Stage 2 rules also include a new requirement that 55 percent of all clinical lab tests ordered by the EP during the reporting period (where the results are a numeric or positive/negative format) must be incorporated in the provider's EHR as structured data (e.g. in the CDA format). However, an EP who does not order lab tests in this format (e.g. many radiologists) is exempt.
ChartLogic is a leading national provider of EHR systems. For more information see www.ChartLogic.com.