Discovering new communities, friends and resources are just a click away thanks to social media and the internet. Do you want to find diabetic-friendly recipes? Or maybe you want to talk to others about diabetes prevention and management tips? Then get into social media and join the conversation with the communities, causes and individuals you like.
Below are five tips to help you become more engaged … Read the rest
Everyone is talking about workflows because they are a key factor in improving the use of your EHR! How data is being entered into your system affects the downstream functionality and quality reporting from your system. Entering data into the correct fields in your EHR ensures you will get the credit it for it on your MU … Read the rest
We are about halfway through the year, and half way through your meaningful use reporting period for 2016. Following are the items you should either have completed or be working on for providers and hospitals (seriously, do yourself a favor and get on this):
Deadline for Group Reporting Registration is June 30, 2016. Groups of 2 or more EPs can participate in PQRS using Group Reporting Option (GPRO), reporting methods. Remember from a previous post that when registering you will need to include the mechanism chosen for reporting. Here are the options available for group reporting.
At the time of registration you must indicate your submission method … Read the rest
For the 2016 MU reporting year, you will need to send one eSecure message to at least one patient seen during the reporting period for each of your providers. You will want to perform this task soon, to verify that you have all the functionality in place that you need, and that it is tracking correctly on your … Read the rest
On April 27th, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced a proposed rule to implement key provisions of the Medicare Access and Chip Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA) with a new approach to paying clinicians for the value and quality of care they provide.
MACRA is the law. The components of MACRA that will interest you are called the … Read the rest
CMS EIDM is CMS’s Enterprise Identity Management system, which provides a way for business partners to apply for, obtain approval of, and receive a single user ID for accessing multiple CMS applications. The PV-PQRS Domain in EIDM provides access for PQRS program information and various tasks such as viewing QRUR and feedback reports, submitting reporting data, and GPRO self-nomination. An EIDM … Read the rest
You may want to review your Medicare payments for adjustment codes from CMS for the Medicare Part B charges to determine if your organization is affected.
We recommend reading CMS How Do I Avoid the 2016 Medicare Quality Reporting Payment Adjustments? You will learn about the 2016 negative or downward payment adjustments for Physician … Read the rest
Recently the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) posted the 2016 annual update for electronic clinical quality measures (eCQMs) for eligible hospitals and eligible professionals. Providers will use these updated measures to electronically report 2017 quality data for CMS quality reporting programs.
CMS updates the specifications annually to improve their alignment with current clinical guidelines … Read the rest
The last year that an eligible professional can begin participation is 2016. Medicaid Expansion has increased the number of Medicaid enrolled patients which in some circumstances could make more providers eligible for the Medicaid EHR incentive payments. The incentive program ends in 2021.
The Medicaid EHR Incentive Payments can total up to $63,750 … Read the rest
Registration to report as a group opened April 1, 2016 and closes June 30, 2016. Groups of 2 or more EPs can participate in PQRS using Group Reporting Option (GPRO) reporting methods. At the time of registration you must indicate your submission method –
Ok, you got through attesting for 2015. Now if you have not already started thinking about 2016, the time is now.
First thing, run your 2016 YTD meaningful use reports, both objectives and CQMs. These will tell you where you need to focus. Second, make sure you have taken the screenshots for your audit folder. Here are all the … Read the rest
Prior to February 25, CMS stated that eligible professionals (EPs) had to actively engage in two public health registries by February 29, 2016, for the 2016 program year.
On February 25, 2016, four days before the active engagement deadline, CMS released a new FAQ that allows EPs to use alternate exclusions for 2016 reporting as well. See CMS … Read the rest
CMS recently updated FAQ 9844 which states that a hospital-based eligible professional (EP) is defined as an EP who furnishes 90 percent or more of his/her services in either the inpatient or emergency department of a hospital. Hospital-based EPs do not qualify for Medicare or Medicaid EHR incentive payments.
The 2015 reporting Hardship application deadline has been extended to July 1, 2016 for those eligible professionals (EPs), eligible hospitals (EHs) and critical access hospitals (CAHs) that are unable to attest for Meaningful Use in 2015 and want to apply for an exception from the Medicare Electronic Health Records Incentive Program 2017 payment adjustment.
This new, streamlined application process is … Read the rest
CMS extended the attestation deadline for the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs to March 11, 2016 at 11:59 pm ET, from the original deadline of February 29.
Don’t forget about the Value Modifier Program as professionals affected by this program are different than for the PQRS program. Beginning January 1, 2018, the Value Modifier will be applied to physician payments under the Medicare PFS for physician solo practitioners and physicians in groups with two or more eligible professionals, as identified by their … Read the rest
Seriously, it’s time to get the needed screenshots for your meaningful use audit folder. The following screenshots should be taken immediately. In order to pass a CMS audit, we recommend you include the system date in your screen shot, as well as the name of your facility. You only need one screenshot per EHR instance, so if you have more … Read the rest
The list of eligible professionals for the PQRS program is much broader than what you may be familiar with for Meaningful Use. PQRS eligible professionals (EPs) include Medicare physicians, practitioners and therapists. A complete list of eligible professionals and explanation of Medicare reporting can be found on the 2016 PQRS List of Eligible Professionals. Eligibility is focused around whether the provider … Read the rest
For the 2016 MU, here is a checklist of the tasks you might use to help get you through the 2016 reporting year. Please let me know if you have comments or questions.
Recent Medicare legislation, Patient Access and Medicare Protection Act (PAMPA), launched important changes to the EHR incentive program hardship exception process designed to reduce burden on clinicians, hospitals and critical access hospitals. CMS has now posted the new hardship applications for eligible professionals (EPs), eligible hospitals (EHs) and critical access hospitals (CAHs).
The deadline for EPs, EHs, and CAHs to submit their … Read the rest
Eligible professionals that need to meet the specialized registry public health measure in 2016 are required to have registered with the reporting agency by February 29 to meet the requirement of being registered within 60 days of the start of the reporting period.
Who needs to meet this requirement? If you are an eligible provider … Read the rest
If you are new to PQRS there are many resources for learning about the program and ideas on steps for walking through the process. HTS has summarized these resources on a MPQHF-HTS PQRS General Information. You will find on this page the explanation of PQRS and the Value Modifier Program, eligibility, CMS steps for getting started, GPRO registration and … Read the rest
The 2016 meaningful use reporting period starts on January 1 for all Eligible Professionals and Eligible Hospitals that are beyond their first year of MU. The Modified Stage 2 requirements apply for 2016, but “alternate exclusions” do not. Below is a list of items you will want to handle as soon as the reporting year starts.
The following configurations … Read the rest
PQRS steps and decisions can be daunting for an organization or practice. So, to start out the new reporting year let’s keep it simple and look at the high level steps for participating in the PQRS program. This should serve as a guide to keeping you on track for tasks throughout the year.
