March 12, 2012….CMS held a national provider call today to present the proposed Stage 2 electronic health records meaningful use rule. The presentation materials for the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive provider call may be found at: http://www.cms.gov/PQRS/Downloads/Stage-2-NPRM.pdf
The Stage 2 proposed rule for eligible providers contains 17 core objectives and 3 of 5 menu objectives for a total of 20 objectives. Some of the Stage 1 menu objectives will become core objectives in Stage 2 and most Stage 2 objectives require an larger percentage.
CMS expects the Stage 2 rule to be final in the summer of 2012 with Stage 2 beginning January 1, 2014 for Eligible Professionals. Payment adjustments for eligible Medicare providers who are not successful at ‘meaningful use’ will begin in 2015. Regardless of the year the Eligible Provider begins ‘meaningful use’ the provider will be under Stage 1 for two years, then two years under Stage 2 and two years in Stage 3.
In addition, the stage 2 proposal also expands the definition of a Medicaid encounter to possibly allow for more providers to qualify for participation in the Medicaid EHR Incentive program.
CMS strongly recommends that providers register at https://www.cms.gov/EHRIncentivePrograms/ as soon as possible to determine if there are any enrollment issues that may need to be corrected.
The CMS Rule publish in February, 2012: http://www.ofr.gov/OFRUpload/OFRData/2012-04443_PI.pdf ONC Rule: http://www.ofr.gov/OFRUpload/OFRData/2012-04430_PI.pdf. CMS encourages public comments on the proposed Stage 2 rule which can be made now through May 6 at www.regulations.gov.