CMS recommends 90-day EHR reporting time in 2016

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on the day of Wednesday declared that it is streamlining electronic health record (EHR) reporting requirements for eligible experts and hospitals in the Medicare EHR Incentive Program.

“These changes involve a proposal for clinicians, hospitals and critical access hospitals to utilize a 90-day EHR reporting time in 2016—down from a complete calendar year for returning participants,” claims the CMS declaration. “This increases flexibility and reduces the reporting burden for hospital contributors.”

In the year of 2015, the EHR reporting time for all eligible experts, eligible hospitals and CAHs was any continuous 90-day period. What CMS is proposing in the new rule is a 90-day EHR reporting time in the year of 2016 for all EPs, eligible hospitals and CAHs. The EHR reporting time would be any continuous 90-day period between the period of Jan. 1, 2016 and Dec. 31, 2016.

The new proposed rule is an outcome of the agency’s review of the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of the year 2015 (MACRA).

“Initially this year, CMS performed a review of the Medicare EHR Incentive Program for clinicians as part of our implementation of the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA), with the target of reconsidering the program so we move closer to achieving the complete potential health IT offers,” claimed the agency. “Deployed on that review, CMS streamlined EHR reporting needs under the proposed rule to execute few provisions of MACRA to increase flexibility and support better sufferer outcomes.”

The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives released its own statement in response to the proposed rule.

“We are glad that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services suggested a 90-day reporting time in 2016 for hospitals in the Meaningful Use program,” stated the organization. “CHIME and its members have been leading advocates for a more realistic reporting time. Shortening the reporting time to 90-days from the present 365 days will permit hospitals and health systems to continue making growth in adopting technology systems that support latest payment and care delivery models. We are reviewing the proposed regulation and will have more detailed comments in the coming days.”

CMS also declared that it is proposing to remove the Clinical Decision Support and Computerized Provider Order Entry aims and measures for eligible hospitals and CAHs attesting under the Medicare EHR Incentive Program and reduce the thresholds for a subset of the remaining aims and measures in Modified Stage 2 for the year of 2017 and Stage 3 for the year of 2017 and 2018. “These proposed changes would not apply to eligible hospitals and CAHs that attest under a state’s Medicaid EHR Incentive Program,” the agency statement stated.

Additionally, CMS proposes that EPs, eligible hospitals and CAHs that haven’t victoriously demonstrated meaningful use in a prior year would be needed to attest to Modified Stage 2 by the day of Oct. 1, 2017. “Returning EPs, eligible hospitals and CAHs will report to different systems in the year of 2017 and hence would not be affected by this proposal,” in accordance to CMS.

When it comes to hardship exceptions, the organization is proposing that certain EPs who have not victoriously demonstrated meaningful use in a prior year, intend to attest to meaningful use for an EHR reporting period in the year of 2017, and intend to transition to MIPS and report on measures specified for the advancing care information performance category under the MIPS as proposed in the year of 2017—can apply for a key hardship exception from the year of 2018 payment adjustment.