The Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services ("CMS"), released a proposed rule on May 5 establishing new and revising current requirements of Medicare and Medicaid Promoting Interoperability for eligible hospitals and critical access hospitals ("CAHs"). The Promoting Interoperability Programs were established in 2011 as a way to encourage eligible hospitals and CAHs, as well as eligible professionals, to use certified electronic health records technology ("CEHRT").
The proposed rule is designed to increase stability, reduce the burden on eligible hospitals and CAHs, and clarify certain existing policies. Proposed changes include (i) eliminating the requirement that, for the fiscal year 2020 payment adjustment year, an eligible hospital must successfully register for and attest to meaningful use of CEHRT no later than October 1, 2019 if it had not, in the prior year, demonstrated meaningful use of CEHRT, and (ii) making optional the requirement that a query is conducted on prescription drug history using CEHRT (the Query of PDMP measure). The proposed rule would also establish a shorter reporting period of not less than 90-day continuous period in CY 2021 for new and returning eligible hospitals and CAHs in the Medicare Promoting Interoperability Program attesting to CMS.
Comments on the proposed rule may be provided up to 5 p.m. EDT on June 24, 2019. To submit comments, follow the instructions on the "ADDRESSES" section of the proposed rule here.
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