HHS may be in the final stages before releasing proposed rules for Stage 2 of the electronic health records meaningful use program - HDM Latest News Article

HealthDataMangement Latest News Article Joseph Goedert Jan 23, 2012

The Department of Health and Human Services may be in the final stages before releasing proposed rules for Stage 2 of the electronic health records meaningful use program.

HHS has sent to the Office of Management and Budget for review a proposed rule that will accompany the Stage 2 incentive program rule. The accompanying rule would adopt standards, implementation specifications and certification criteria to ensure EHRs support Stage 2 measures.

OMB review often is one of the final steps before publication of a proposed or final rule. HHS previously has indicated the Stage 2 proposed rules are coming in January or February. Several sessions at the HIMSS Conference in February are specifically focused on Stage 2 issues. This includes a presentation at the day-long preconference Meaningful Use Symposium on Feb. 20, and these sessions on Feb. 22: ONC Certification Programs-Updates and Next Steps; Meaningful Use Stage 2 NPRM Overview; and ONC Town Hall with Farzad Mostashari.

Workgroup begins work on Stage 2 of meaningful use rules

By Jean DerGurahian, News Writer

27 Sep 2010 | SearchHealthIT.com

The first stage of meaningful use rules haven't taken effect yet, but policymakers already are turning their attention to the second and third stages of the program designed to encourage the greater adoption of information technology among health care providers.

More on the meaningful use rules

Criteria for meaningful use of EHR

How EHR standards align with meaningful use

On Sept. 22, the Meaningful Use Workgroup of the federal Health IT Policy Committee held the first of two day-long brainstorming sessions that signal the beginning of work to draft the criteria doctors and hospitals will follow after 2012, when Stage 2 is set to begin.

Expect a lot more discourse on such issues as computerized physician order entry (CPOE), drug interactions indicators, advance directives, and quality measures and clinical decision support. While the workgroup is delving into ways to extend current meaningful use rules and develop new ones, those areas in particular were questioned deeply.

Under the federal Electronic Health Record Incentive Program (EHRIP), Medicare and Medicaid providers demonstrate they are meeting meaningful use rules and are eligible for incentive payments. The five-year program is voluntary, but providers that don't demonstrate they have adopted and are using health IT after 2015 will see cuts in their reimbursement from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), which oversees EHRIP. The policy committee is run by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, or ONC, which works in conjunction with CMS on meaningful use and technology standards.

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