In a press release issued July 13, 2010, CMS and ONC made a joint announcement regarding the final rules to support ‘Meaningful Use’ of Electronic Health Records which may qualify eligible providers to receive as much as either $44,000 under Medicare or $63,750 under Medicaid.
The final rules now include more flexibility to providers in Stage 1 with 15 required “core” criteria and a menu of provider-selected criteria. The “menu” for provider-selection contains 10 items and providers select and comply with at least 5. Also, the final rule reflects reductions in the thresholds for electronic prescribing and quality measures from the proposed rule. Stage 1 is categorized as “data capture and sharing” with the goal to collect electronic health data in a coded format as well as report health information for tracking key clinical conditions.
In addition, the final rules include the technical requirements for certified technology. CMS has issued a fact sheet with additional details at www.cms.gov/apps/media/fact_sheet.asp MediSYS is pleased that the final rules have been defined and we are committed to ensuring that MediSYS EHR encompasses the technical components for certified technology.
For the complete press release from Secretary Sebelius visit: http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2010pres/07/20100713a.html