With the New Year comes the opening of 2015 attestations for meaningful use, PQRS, and many other quality reporting programs. At the same time, the full-year 2016 reporting period for most of these programs has begun. Here are a few important dates to keep in mind (see recent article here in What’s Next client newsletter for a more detailed timeline):
- 2015 MU, PQRS reporting periods ended: 12/31/2015
- 2015 MU attestation period: 1/4/16 – 2/29/16
- 2015 PQRS submission period for EHR reporters: 1/1/16 – 2/29/16
- 2015 PQRS submission period for qualified registry reporters: 1/1/16- 3/31/16
- 2016 MU reporting period: 1/1/16- 12/31/16 (full-year for returning participants)
- 2016 PQRS reporting period: 1/1/16- 12/31/16 (full-year)
Factual Errors on CMS Meaningful Use Attestation Portal
The CMS attestation portal contains factually incorrect message on questionnaires for two (2) objectives.
- Questionnaire #9 – Secure Messaging: The questionnaire (see below) states that “secure messaging must be enabled for the entire reporting period”. However, the CMS fact sheet for this objective states: “For an EHR reporting period in 2015, the capability for patients to send and receive a secure electronic message with the EP was fully enabled during the EHR reporting period.” (Emphasis added.) CMS has confirmed that the fact sheet is correct and stated that CMS would attempt to remove this error from the attestation portal and provide appropriate guidance to auditors. In the meantime: Clients should select “Yes” as long as secure messaging was enabled at some point during the reporting period.
- Questionnaire #10 – Public Health Reporting: The questionnaire asks for the “number of unique specialized registries, including cancer registries, with which you had active engagement to submit data from certified EHR technology for the entire EHR reporting period.” (Emphasis added.) However, it should be noted that active engagement is required within 60 days of the start of the reporting period, not for an entire reporting period. Clients should respond to the questionnaire with the number of registries with which they had active engagement within 60 days of the start of the reporting period.
Coded Results Mapping solution
In an effort to simplify and improve the accuracy of CQM reporting, NextGen Healthcare is releasing the new Coded Results Mapping solution, a tool designed to update existing 8.3 templates with newer SNOMED codes.
If you are using “aligned reporting” with the latest versions of certain measures, such as CMS 138v3 or CMS 2v3 (with the 2014 MU Templates) or you are an ophthalmology client and have modified the macula pick list options while planning to report CMS 142 and/or CMS 167, your CQM reporting may not be fully accurate. NextGen Healthcare recommends clients in these circumstances wait for the release of the Coded Results Mapping tool (scheduled for Friday, January 22) prior to electronically submitting CMS CQMs under the aligned reporting option .The release of this tool will be accompanied by a detailed communication, with instructions on when/how to use this new tool.
Impact for NextGen Healthcare clients: This is a critical time of the year both for ensuring successful reporting/attestation based on 2015 performance and getting started on meeting requirements in 2016.NextGen Healthcare will be assisting clients in these efforts through complimentary webinars, MU/HQM support, and optional consulting services. Please be sure to do your attestations early as historically the CMS website suffers delays and downtime as we approach the deadline.