HIMSS Calls For Shorter Reporting Period In Meaningful Use Stage 2
May 9, 2012
Calling for more flexible timelines and greater alignment between federal and state reporting requirements, HIMSS on Monday, May 7th submitted comments to the Department of Health and Human Services, responding to two notices of proposed rulemaking on Stage 2 meaningful use.
Carla Smith, HIMSS executive vice president, noted that since the inception of the HITECH Act in 2009, HIMSS has “supported the concept of graduated complexity of meaningful use that recognizes the varying degrees of maturity of adoption and implementation of health IT that serve as the foundation for healthcare transformation.”
Over the first year of the meaningful use incentive program, HIMSS reported seeing more and more resources put to use to prepare eligible professionals (EPs), eligible hospitals (EHs) and critical access hospitals (CAHs) for attestation. And as part of its HIMSS Analytics data collection on meaningful use, the organization has seen a 12 percent increase in hospital preparedness for Stage 1 requirements, officials said.
As for Stage 2, HIMSS’ response to the proposed rule called “strongly” for the government to incorporate a 90- to 180-day reporting period for year one of Stage 2 in 2014. As part of the preparation for the Stage 2 Final Rule, HIMSS encouraged HHS to continue reviewing and reassessing the timeline to maximize the amount of time EPs, EHs, CAHs and vendors have to prepare for meaningful use Stage 2.
HIMSS recommended that 2014 – the first year of the new certification criteria and clinical quality measures (CQMs) – be limited to a 90- to 180-day reporting period; it further suggested HHS reconsider the proposal that providers who are in Stage 1 will be required to meet all of that stage’s criteria changes by fiscal year/calendar year 2014.
HIMSS also recognized the areas in which its members agree with CMS and ONC proposed rules and provides support – notably for the “base” EHR concept, and for the extension of Stage 1 for 2011 attesters, said officials.
HIMSS also sought to:
- encourage alignment between federal and state quality reporting requirements;
- emphasize that quality measures should be utilized only if the standard and specifications supporting the quality measure have been tested and verified;
- encourage the utilization of mobile technologies to support patient engagement;
- include several requests for additional clarity or definition;
- address questions in the NPRM around accounting of disclosures and data portability.
For more about HIMSS’ response to the Stage 2 NPRM, click here.
Article written by Mike Miliard, Managing Editor with Healthcare IT News.
Frank J. Rosello
is CEO & Co-Founder of Environmental Intelligence LLC.
Environmental Intelligence, LLC, is a complete, full-service healthcare IT solution provider. With a team having more than 10 years of proven clinical expertise in delivering end-to-end health IT solutions, Environmental Intelligence provides medical practices and facilities onsite expert IT consulting, installation, and implementation that is focused on physicians, their patients, and the quality of their care.
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