hospital incentives for EHRs

CMS Provides Detailed Instructions on Deadline Extension for 2013 MU Attestation

Kathie McDonald-McClure Electronic Health Records, Eligible Professional Incentives, Health Information Technology, HITECH Law, Hospital EHR Incentives , , , , ,

strike before midnightOn Friday, February 7, 2014, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced an extension until 11:59 pm on March 31, 2014 for Eligible Professionals to submit their 2013 EHR Meaningful Use (MU) attestation.  In addition, Eligible Hospitals that had trouble submitting their 2013 MU attestation may be able to retroactively submit their attestation to avoid the 2015 payment adjustment but must contact CMS by March 15, 2014 at 11:59 pm to do so.  Note that only the attestation deadline is being moved. The requirement to meet MU by September 30, 2013 for Eligible Hospitals and by December 31, 2013 for Eligible Professionals in order to avoid the 2015 payment adjustment is not affected.

What’s new from our previous post about this?  Today, CMS published specific instructions on how to take advantage of the extensions of the 2013 MU attestation deadlines in its MLN Connects, Weekly Provider eNews dated Thursday, February 13, 2014.  Scroll to the section titled “New EHR Attestation Deadline for Eligible Professionals: March 31” which provides instructions for both Eligible Professionals and Eligible Hospitals.  CMS also updated the Eligible Professional 2013 attestation deadline on its EHR Incentive Programs home page.

OIG recommends fraud safeguards in hospital EHR technology

Kathie McDonald-McClure EHR Certification Standards, Electronic Health Records, Fraud and Abuse, Health Information Technology, HITECH Law , , , , ,

Doctors Using EHROn December 10, 2013, the Office of Inspector General for the United States Department of Health & Human Services (OIG) issued a report finding that hospital implementation of fraud safeguards in electronic health records (EHRs) falls short of the recommended standards. The report carries out one of the OIG’s 2013 Work Plan objectives to study how EHR technology may lead to improper payments by federal healthcare programs.  In its Work Plan, the OIG had noted that: “Medicare contractors have noted an increased frequency of medical records with identical documentation across services.”

The OIG’s findings were extracted from the responses to an on-line questionnaire to 864 hospitals that had received Medicare EHR incentive payments as of March 2012. The questionnaire focused on four EHR fraud safeguards: 1) EHR audit functions; 2) EHR user authorization and access; 3) EHR data transfer; and 4) patient involvement via the ability to access and comment within their EHR.   The OIG criticized the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Office of National Coordinator of Health Information Technology (ONC) for failing to incorporate recommended safeguards into meaningful use criteria and EHR certification standards.

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Lessons Learned from Meaningful Use Audits

Margaret Young Levi Electronic Health Records, Eligible Professional Incentives, Health Information Technology, HITECH Law, Hospital EHR Incentives, Meaningful Use , ,

HITECH Act meaningful use auditor
By Margaret Levi and Kathie McDonald-McClure
 
As we previously reported in a blog post on September 24, 2013, an eligible professional, eligible hospital, or critical access hospital receiving an incentive payment for the meaningful use (MU) of electronic health records (EHRs) will likely be subject to a stringent audit from either Medicare or Medicaid.  The fact that these MU audits are underway is now fully evident.

We have heard from several sources that CMS auditors are hitting Tennessee and Kentucky hospitals and physician practices and demanding repayment of meaningful use incentive monies if providers cannot fully back up their attestations for Stage 1 compliance in every respect. 

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November 30th Meaningful Use Deadline for Hospitals

Margaret Young Levi Electronic Health Records, Health Information Technology, HITECH Law, Hospital EHR Incentives, Meaningful Use , , , , , , ,

clip_image002Saturday, November 30, 2013, is the last day for hospitals and critical access hospitals (CAHs) to register and attest to receive an incentive payment for FY2013 under the Medicare Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Program.  In the flurry of Thanksgiving activities, holiday travel and Black Friday shopping, don’t forget to take advantage of this deal.  The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has posted a reminder of these deadlines on its Medicare & Medicaid EHR Incentive Program Registration & Attestation System webpage.
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EHR Meaningful Use Audits – Coming Soon to an Office Near You!

Ann Feldkamp Triebsch Electronic Health Records, Health Information Technology, HITECH Law, Meaningful Use , , , , , ,

by Ann F. Triebsch

businessman looking over his glasses with clipboard on hand - frAs we indicated in a posting last October and in a more recent August post , audits are now underway to verify that providers who received incentive monies from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) under the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act for implementation of a certified electronic health record (EHR) have indeed met the “meaningful use” (MU) criteria. The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) has contracted with Garden City, NY-based Fagliozzi and Company to conduct these audits.  The audits are designed to verify that providers receiving incentive payments are using certified EHR technology in a meaningful way. These audits can be a hassle, and there are risks if you cannot promptly provide what is requested—even if you are complying with the MU criteria.

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