EHR Incentive Programs News and Resources for Healthcare

CMS Creates CHIO Role to Spearhead MyHealthEData Initiative

July 19, 2018 - CMS recently created a new Chief Health Informatics Officer (CHIO) position to spearhead CMS initiatives including MyHealthEData, Medicare Blue Button 2.0, and the EHR Incentive Programs overhaul. The federal agency is currently in the process of finding the right candidate to take over the role. The new CHIO will take charge of advancing the aims of the MyHealthEData initiative,...

CMS Accepting New Promoting Interoperability Measure Proposals

May 16, 2018 by Kate Monica

CMS recently announced it is accepting proposals for new measures stakeholders would like to see included in the Medicare Promoting Interoperability (PI) program. The federal agency will accept proposals until June 29. CMS is encouraging...

Bill Allowing Behavioral Health EHR Incentives Passes Senate

May 09, 2018 by Elizabeth Snell

The bi-partisan Improving Access to Behavioral Health Information Technology Act (S.1732) was passed by the Senate earlier today, allowing CMS to offer incentives to providers that implement behavioral health EHRs. Introduced by Senator...

Meaningful Use Hardship Exception Applications Now Available

April 20, 2018 by Kate Monica

Hardship exception applications for eligible hospitals and critical access hospitals (CAHs) participating in meaningful use are now available, CMS announced today. Eligible hospitals can submit hardship exception applications to...

AHA, HIMSS Support CMS Plans for Meaningful Use, MyHealthEData

March 09, 2018 by Kate Monica

HIMSS and AHA voiced support for CMS after the federal agency revealed plans to overhaul meaningful use requirements as part of the EHR Incentive Programs and to promote patient EHR access through the Trump Administration’s...

EHR Adoption, Interoperability Brought Google Back to Healthcare

March 06, 2018 by Kyle Murphy, PhD

LAS VEGAS—Widespread EHR adoption attracted the likes of Google to return to healthcare and help the industry in its adoption of new and emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning. On Monday, Google...

MyHealthEData Initiative to Improve EHR Patient Data Access

March 06, 2018 by Kate Monica

CMS Administrator Seema Verma recently announced a new initiative from the Trump Administration — MyHealthEData — designed to improve EHR patient data access. According to an announcement from Verma during HIMSS18, the...

Indiana Moves to Dismiss Lawsuit Tied to Medicaid Meaningful Use

January 16, 2018 by Kate Monica

Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill recently filed a request to dismiss a lawsuit brought against 62 Indiana hospitals for allegedly falsifying records and participating in a kickback scheme involving the release of patient EHRs to meet...

eClinicalWorks EHR Certification Subject of Recent Legal Action

January 04, 2018 by Kyle Murphy, PhD

Carrollton Family Clinic of Mississippi is taking legal action following the $155-million settlement between eClinicalWorks and the Department of Justice over allegations that the EHR company falsely obtained certification for its EHR...

Eligible Hospitals Must Use QNet for Meaningful Use Attestation

January 02, 2018 by Kate Monica

CMS recently issued a reminder that eligible hospitals and critical access hospitals (CAHs) participating in the EHR Incentive Programs must use the QualityNet Secure Portal (QNet) to submit meaningful use attestations in 2018. “As...

DOJ Recovered $2.4B in Healthcare False Claims Act Cases in 2017

December 29, 2017 by Kate Monica

The Department of Justice (DOJ) recovered approximately $2.4 billion from healthcare False Claims Act cases in 2017, according to an announcement by the federal agency this month. In total, DOJ recovered $3.7 billion in settlements and...

Cancer Practice to Pay $26M for False Meaningful Use Attestations

December 14, 2017 by Kate Monica

21st Century Oncology reached a settlement with the Department of Justice to resolve allegations that the healthcare organization submitted false or inflated meaningful use attestations. The $26 million settlement will also resolve...

Critical Access Hospitals Hardship Exception Deadline Nears

November 29, 2017 by Kate Monica

The hardship exception deadline for critical access hospitals (CAHs) that did not achieve meaningful use during the EHR Incentive Program 2016 reporting period closes on November 30. CAHs looking to avoid a 2018 payment adjustment can...

EHR Clinical Decision Support Alerts Increase HPV Vaccination

November 21, 2017 by Kate Monica

Physicians using EHR systems with clinical decision support are more likely to lead to the ordering human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines when alerts are included, according to a recent study in the American Journal of Managed Care...

CMS Details 2018 Meaningful Use Payment Adjustments

October 10, 2017 by Kate Monica

“Eligible hospitals that do not successfully demonstrate meaningful use for an EHR reporting period associated with a payment adjustment year will receive reduced Medicare payments for that year,” clarified the federal agency...

CMS Moves Meaningful Use Attestation System to Secure Portal

October 04, 2017 by Kate Monica

CMS is moving the data reporting process from the EHR Incentive Program Registration and Attestation System to the QualityNet Secure Portal (QNET) to simplify meaningful use attestation for eligible hospitals. The change will go into...

Why Are Physicians Hesitant to Invest in Value-Based Care?

September 26, 2017 by Kyle Murphy, PhD

Federal quality reporting programs aim to improve the patient experience and health of populations and reduce the cost of care, goals their participants are clearly in favor. However, the latter take umbrage with the expense required of...

House Subcommittee Okays Bill to Reduce Provider EHR Use Burden

September 14, 2017 by Kate Monica

The House Energy & Commerce Health Subcommittee yesterday approved legislation to remove a requirement from the HITECH Act that increases the stringency of meaningful use standards for EHR use overtime. The bill is designed...

AMA Calls for Stability, Simplicity in Future MIPS Scoring

August 22, 2017 by Kyle Murphy, PhD

Atop its voluminous list of recommendations for the Quality Payment Program, the American Medical Association (AMA) has advised CMS to simplify the scoring of physician performance in Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS). In a...

HITECH Directly Responsible for Hospital EHR Adoption Spike

August 08, 2017 by Kate Monica

A recent study by Julia Adler-Milstein and Ashish K. Jha found HITECH to be primarily responsible for significant increases in hospital EHR adoption rates, suggesting the law should serve as a model for ways to influence technology...

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