Earlier this week, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced the immediate renaming of the EHR Incentive Programs (aka “Meaningful Use”) for hospitals and Medicaid providers and the for the Advancing Care Information (ACI) performance category of the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) for eligible Medicare clinicians.
Effective immediately, the programs will be known as “Promoting Interoperability”. In its announcement, CMS states that “[t]his change will move the programs beyond the existing requirements of meaningful use to a new phase of EHR measurement with an increased focus on interoperability and improving patient access to health information.”
On the same day, CMS also issued its anticipated proposed rule for the Inpatient Prospective Payment Program (IPPS). The proposed changes are intended to “empower patients through better access to hospital price information, improve patients’ access to their electronic health records”.
In addition to reiterating the name change for MU, the IPPS proposal contains specific provisions intended to advance interoperability and exchange of information between providers and patients, Specifically, the rule aims to implement core pieces of the government-wide MyHealthEData initiative announced by CMS at the annual HIMSS Conference last month.
It is important to note that changes to actual MU and ACI requirements, objectives and measures require a formal rulemaking process. The IPPS proposal begins this process for the Medicaid MU program, while proposed changes to the MIPS program, including the ACI category, are expected in the coming weeks.
NextGen Healthcare will provide analysis of the proposed IPPS rule days ahead. Please look for updates on Chatter and attend the next Health Reform Simplified Webinar to learn about the proposed rule and how it impacts NextGen Healthcare clients.
More info:
CMS Fact Sheet on IPPS Proposed Rule