Premier: Final Stage 2 Rule Needed Soon
Hospitals need a final Stage 2 electronic health records meaningful use rule published no later than August 2012 to be ready in 2014, according to provider alliance organization Premier Inc.
Hospitals need a final Stage 2 electronic health records meaningful use rule published no later than August 2012 to be ready in 2014, according to provider alliance organization Premier Inc.
Absent timely publishing of the rule, Stage 1 should continue for another year and Stage 2 should start in 2015, the organization recommends in a comment letter on the proposed Stage 2 rule. Premier also reiterates a recommendation it made for Stage 1 to enable hospitals with multiple inpatient facilities to receive EHR incentives for each complying facility. Other comments and suggestions include:
* Do not adopt new core meaningful use measures unless they have been part of a previous menu set,
* Maintain the current level of reporting 15 clinical quality measures, and
* Provide an exception to the 2015 payment adjustments (penalties) for not achieving meaningful use if a hospital’s incumbent EHR vendor failed to receive timely certification, or if a hospital switched vendors and the new one didn’t get timely certification.
Absent timely publishing of the rule, Stage 1 should continue for another year and Stage 2 should start in 2015, the organization recommends in a comment letter on the proposed Stage 2 rule. Premier also reiterates a recommendation it made for Stage 1 to enable hospitals with multiple inpatient facilities to receive EHR incentives for each complying facility. Other comments and suggestions include:
* Do not adopt new core meaningful use measures unless they have been part of a previous menu set,
* Maintain the current level of reporting 15 clinical quality measures, and
* Provide an exception to the 2015 payment adjustments (penalties) for not achieving meaningful use if a hospital’s incumbent EHR vendor failed to receive timely certification, or if a hospital switched vendors and the new one didn’t get timely certification.