Meaningful Use Sees Impressive Payouts since Beginning CMS recently released the numbers for the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs through February 2013. About $12.6 billion has been paid out to participants by the program so far. Although only 4,299 hospitals are actively...
Note to Mr. Donald Trump: According to HHS’ New Omnibus Rule, You Can Have A Copy of That Birth Certificate in About 100 or so Years Because HIPAA Doesn’t Apply One change under the Omnibus Rule that is somewhat flying under the radar is that HIPAA no longer will apply to a patients’...
“Significant Risk of Harm” No Longer Required to Trigger Breach Notification When it comes to responding to a Breach, what every Covered Entity (CE) and Business Associate (BA) wants to know is “Do we have to notify, or not?” Completing a documented “Risk Assessment” has always been...
HHS Rings in 2013 with News of Settlement for Small Breach We hope all of our readers had a happy and relaxing holiday season, and we wish you all the best for this New Year! It seems fitting for the first post of the year to revolve around HHS’s announcement of its first breach settlement...
CMS Releases Meaningful Use Changes in Interim Final Rule with Comment CMS has announced the release of an Interim Final Rule with Comment (“IFC”) that makes several changes to the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs and 2014 EHR Certification Criteria. Short and sweet, the...
OIG Finds Fault with CMS Meaningful Use Oversight In a report released on November 29, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) chastised CMS for not doing a better job of pre and post-payment oversight for the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs (Meaningful Use). As of September...
Last Call for Hospital Attestations CMS is reminding hospitals that Friday, November 30, is the last day to register and submit their attestations for FY 2012 Meaningful Use incentive payments. Hospitals must attest to having successfully met all Meaningful Use requirements in order to...
Guess What? OIG DOES Care about EHRs and Meaningful Use Today marks the last day for hospitals to return an 18-page, 54 question survey inquiring about their EHR practices, security, coding and other potential EHR fraud and abuse vulnerabilities. Hospitals using certified EHR...
August Goes Out with a Bang: Stage 2 Final Rule & HIPAA Arrest August ended in a whirlwind of federal activity, with CMS and OCR publishing the long-awaited Meaningful Use Stage 2 Final Rule and its accompanying Standards & Certification Criteria. And, as if Stage 2 wasn’t...
CMS Meaningful Use Audits Begin; Stage 2 Rule Sent to OMB for Review HITECH Answers reports that CMS has begun audits of providers participating in the Medicare EHR Incentive Program. With little fanfare and no official introduction of CMS’ chosen auditor, health care providers have...
CMS Releases Additional Meaningful Use Guidance for EPs; Stage 3 Recommendations Underway CMS released last week a new comprehensive guide for eligible professionals (EPs) participating in the Medicaid EHR Incentive Program. The guide covers: Program basics, such as an explanation of...
CMS Releases New Meaningful Use FAQ for EPs using Hospital EHRs CMS released a new FAQ on June 27 to help clarify to what extent an eligible professional (EP) can use a hospital EHR to meet Meaningful Use objectives and measures. The FAQ makes it clear that an EP can use both a...
Legal and Practical Implications of Meaningful Use Attestation With over $4 billion paid out to eligible professionals (EPs) and hospitals under the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs as of March 2012 according to CMS, many hospitals are gearing up for or have recently...
Public Comments for Meaningful Use Stage 2 NPRM Due May 7 The clock is ticking for interested parties to submit comments in response to the CMS and ONC Meaningful Use Stage 2 Notices of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM). The deadline for submission of comments is 5pm on Monday, May 7. CMS...
CMS Updates Meaningful Use FAQs for Multiple Certified EHRs Coming a little too late for hospitals and eligible professionals who have already attested or begun to attest for 2012, CMS has kindly taken a step back on Meaningful Use requirements for accounting for unique patients in...