HTS – MU: New MU Attestation Deadlines for 2016 Reporting

February 22, 2017 by Beth Brown Leave a Comment

New MU Attestation Deadlines for 2016 Reporting

February 22, 2017

Written by Patty Kosednar

There are new dates for Medicare and some of the Medicaid state SLR attestation systems.

Following are the attestation deadlines for the 2016 reporting year for both the Medicare and Medicaid (states in our region) EHR Incentive Programs.

Medicare Program Attestation Deadline

03/13/17 – For both eligible hospitals and eligible providers

Medicaid Program Attestation Deadline

Alaska: 03/1/17 – for eligible providers.

… Read the rest

HTS – MU Attestation Deadlines for 2016 Reporting

January 18, 2017 by Dale Applegate 2 Comments

MU Attestation Deadlines for 2016 Reporting

January 18, 2016

Written by Patty Kosednar

Following are the attestation deadlines for the 2016 reporting year for both the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs.

Medicare Program Attestation Deadline

• 02/28/17 – For both eligible hospitals and eligible providers

Medicaid Program Attestation Deadline

• Alaska: 03/1/17 – for both eligible hospitals and eligible providers
• Hawaii: 03/31/17 – for both eligible hospitals and eligible providers
• Montana: 03/31/17 … Read the rest

HTS – MU: Things to Know for MU 2017

December 28, 2016 by Dale Applegate Leave a Comment

Things to Know for MU 2017

December 28, 2016

Written by Patty Kosednar

There are just a few days until the New Year, and CMS has updated their website with new meaningful use resources and information for the 2017 reporting period. Here are just the highlights for the Eligible Professional (EP) Medicaid EHR Incentive Program and the Eligible Hospital (EH) Medicaid and Medicare EHR Incentive Program (this blog does not include MIPS requirements).

For 2017 … Read the rest

HTS – MU: Steps Needed to Register Providers for Meaningful Use

December 20, 2016 by Dale Applegate 1 Comment

Steps Needed to Register Providers for Meaningful Use

December 20, 2016

Written by Patty Kosednar

Can you believe it is almost the end of 2016? Hopefully you have completed the steps needed to meet the requirements of Meaningful Use for this year. If you have providers that are new to your organization or new to Meaningful Use, there are some additional steps you will need to take.

If a provider is new to the Meaningful … Read the rest

HTS – MU: Final Meaningful Use List of Tasks for 2016

December 19, 2016 by Dale Applegate Leave a Comment

Final Meaningful Use List of Tasks for 2016

December 19, 2016

Written by Patty Kosednar

Well, we are almost to the end of 2016. As you know, CMS has approved a 90-day reporting period for MU for 2016. Just to make sure you have everything taken care of, here is a list of tasks needed for successful completion of MU for 2016 –

1. Choose a continuous 90-day reporting period for 2016 (see more … Read the rest

HTS – MU: Meaningful Use Webinar Slides and Recording

December 16, 2016 by Dale Applegate Leave a Comment

Meaningful Use Webinar Slides and Recording

December 16, 2016

Written by Patty Kosednar

If you missed our 2016 MU End of Year Review webinar on 12/8, here is the link to the recording and presentation slides.

The following topics were covered in this webinar –

Reviewed requirements for 2016 MU
Discussed new 90-day reporting requirements
Reviewed all MU tasks
Reviewed registration requirements
Identified CMS MU audit documentation recommendations
Gave MIPS overview – how MU

… Read the rest

HTS – MU: Meaningful Use Webinar this week to Review All 2016 Tasks

December 6, 2016 by Dale Applegate Leave a Comment

Meaningful Use Webinar This Week to Review All 2016 Tasks

December 6, 2016

Written by Patty Kosednar

If you haven’t registered yet, please Register Now for a webinar on Thursday, December 8, 1-2 pm MST for a review of all 2016 Meaningful Use tasks.

We will review the following topics in this webinar –

Overview of requirements for 2016 MU
Discuss new 90-day reporting requirements
Review of all MU tasks
Review registration requirements
Identify CMS

… Read the rest

HTS – MU: To Do List

November 17, 2016 by Dale Applegate Leave a Comment

Important Meaningful Use Tasks

November 17, 2016

Written by Patty Kosednar

As you know, CMS has approved a 90-day reporting period for 2016. You can use any continuous 90 days in the 2016 calendar year for 2016. Please keep the following in mind –

Some of the “yes/no” MU objectives need to happen during or before the end of your reporting period.

EP and EH – Each provider needs one patient to view, download or

… Read the rest

HTS – MU: How Meaningful Use will change under MACRA-Quality Payment Program

November 16, 2016 by Dale Applegate Leave a Comment

How Meaningful Use will change under MACRA-Quality Payment program

November 16, 2016

Written by Patty Kosednar

As you have probably heard, starting in 2017 the Medicare EHR Incentive Program (Meaningful Use) will become part of the Quality Payment Program (QPP) under the MACRA law. The Medicaid EHR Incentive Program will remain as is, and will be a separate program.

There are a lot of questions out there about the Quality Payment Program. HTS will be … Read the rest

HTS – MU: Security Risk Assessments Needed for More than MU

November 4, 2016 by Dale Applegate Leave a Comment

Security Risk Assessments Needed for More than MU

November 4, 2016

Written by Patty Kosednar

Hey all you meaningful users! As you all know, security risk assessments are a requirement for meeting meaningful use. However, the requirement for them and their importance is greater than just the MU program. Below is information from Susan Clarke, our Health Care Information Security and Privacy Practitioner:

“2016 is the biggest HIPAA enforcement Year for the Office for Civil … Read the rest

HTS – MU: CMS Approves a 90-Day Reporting Period for 2016

November 2, 2016 by Dale Applegate Leave a Comment

CMS Approves a 90-Day Reporting Period for 2016

November 2, 2016

Written by Patty Kosednar

CMS has approved a 90-day EHR reporting period in 2016 and for 2017 for all returning eligible professionals (EPs), eligible hospitals (EHs) and critical hospitals (CAHs) that have previously demonstrated meaningful use in the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs, as part of the Hospital Outpatient Perspective Payment System (OPPS). See all rule changes included in OPPS changes (MU changes … Read the rest

HTS – MU: Providers Practicing in More Than One Location

October 17, 2016 by Dale Applegate Leave a Comment

Providers Practicing in More Than One Location

October 17, 2016

Written by Patty Kosednar

Eligible providers who practice in multiple locations must take some additional steps in order to successfully participate in the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive programs (meaningful use).

The meaningful use program is measured/tracked at the provider level and not the practice level. So if a provider practices in more than one location (with a certified EHR), they must combine the meaningful … Read the rest

HTS – MU: Security Risk Assessments Needed for MU

September 19, 2016 by Dale Applegate Leave a Comment

MU: Security Risk Assessments Needed for Meaningful Use

September 19, 2016

Written by Patty Kosednar

Hey everyone, this is just a friendly reminder that a security risk assessment is required as part of meaningful use (MU) for EVERY reporting year. Below is text regarding this requirement from the CMS Security Risk Analysis Tip Sheet.

“Conducting a security risk analysis (SRA) is required when certified EHR technology is adopted in the first reporting year. In … Read the rest

HTS – MU: What Topics Are You Interested In?

September 5, 2016 by Dale Applegate Leave a Comment

MU: What Topics Are You Interested In

September 5, 2016

Written by Patty Kosednar

We are almost through the 3^rd quarter of the 2016 reporting year. Hopefully you are tracking your performance on the MU requirements (see blog posted 7/16 for a complete list of tasks for MU).

In this blog, we are committed to providing you the steps needed to get you through the meaningful use program. Because we are reaching a large … Read the rest

HTS – MU: New Rule Proposed

August 18, 2016 by Dale Applegate Leave a Comment

MU: CMS Has Proposed a 90-Day Reporting Period for 2016

August 19, 2016

Written by Patty Kosednar

To offer greater flexibility in the meaningful use of EHRs, CMS has proposed a 90-day EHR reporting period in 2016 for all eligible providers, eligible hospitals, and CAHs. The proposed rule would change the reporting period from a full calendar year to any continuous 90-day period between January 1, 2016 and December 31, 2016.

This proposed change is … Read the rest

HTS – MU: Patient Electronic Access

August 15, 2016 by Dale Applegate Leave a Comment

MU: Patient Electronic Access Using Patient Portal

August 15, 2016

Written by Patty Kosednar

You may want to run your current year to date MU reports and check on this measure. 50% of patients seen during the reporting period must have access to their info via your portal. Your performance on this measure should be close to or over this 50% mark by now, if you are not, you’ll want to review the patient access … Read the rest

HTS – MU: MT Extends SLR Deadline

August 1, 2016 by Dale Applegate Leave a Comment

MU: Montana 2015 MU deadline for EPs extended

August 1, 2016

Written by Patty Kosednar

We received word from the Montana Medicaid State Level Registry that they are extending the attestation deadline for eligible providers to 10:00 p.m. Friday, August 5^th. Some providers are experiencing system issues with CMS and/or Montana Medicaid that preclude the state registration and attestation process.

If you are experiencing a technical issue with your Montana Medicaid meaningful use … Read the rest

HTS – MU: Audit Trail

August 1, 2016 by Dale Applegate Leave a Comment

MU: Failing a Meaningful Use Audit

August 1, 2016

Written by Patty Kosednar

One sure fire way to fail a meaningful use audit is to not have the documentation to support your MU performance. Don’t let this happen to you. Take a look at the CMS Audit tip sheet (which was updated for this year) which gives you a good list of how to document both the threshold measures (the ones that you attest with … Read the rest

HTS – MU: 2016 MU Checklist

July 16, 2016 by Dale Applegate Leave a Comment

MU: A Checklist of MU Tasks for 2016

July 16, 2016

Written by Patty Kosednar

TGIF everyone! One last word about meaningful use this week (I promise). Below is a list of the tasks we recommend you perform to complete MU for this year. It might be helpful for you to use it as a checklist as you work your way through the process.

2016 MU Check List

Create CMS MU audit folder
Determine if

… Read the rest

HTS – MU: Are you Actively Engaged?

July 15, 2016 by Dale Applegate Leave a Comment

MU: Are you Actively Engaged in using your Public Health Registry?

July 15, 2016

Written by Patty Kosednar

For Modified Stage 2 of Meaningful Use, EPs must report/take exclusions to 2 out of 3 public health measures, EHs must do 3 out of 4. If you are not currently reporting data to the required number of registries, and are not eligible for the exclusions, you must be actively engaged with the required number of registries. … Read the rest

HTS – MU: 2016 MU Webinar

July 13, 2016 by Dale Applegate Leave a Comment

MU: Materials from today’s MU webinar available

July 13, 2016

Written by Patty Kosednar

Thank you to all who attended today’s MU webinar – an Overview of the 2016 Meaningful Use Requirements. Materials are now available on our website.

Leave a reply, ask a question or share information using the “Leave a Reply” section below, or email Patty Kosednar directly with your questions or comments.

Read all previous posts

See PQRS Blog

Subscribe … Read the rest

HTS – MU: Multiple Provider Locations

July 11, 2016 by Dale Applegate Leave a Comment

MU: Providers practicing in more than one location

July 11, 2016

Written by Patty Kosednar

What a beautiful summer! I hope you are all enjoying some fun in the sun. Speaking of fun, let’s talk about what to do if you have providers practicing in more than one location. The MU program is measured at the provider level, not the practice level, so if a provider practices in more than one location with a certified … Read the rest

HTS – MU: Check for Medicaid EPs for MU

July 7, 2016 by Dale Applegate Leave a Comment

MU: Check for Medicaid Eligible Providers for MU

July 7, 2016

Written by Patty Kosednar

As you know, for a provider to be eligible for the Medicaid EHR Incentive Program, they must have over 30% Medicaid patient encounters, and a hospital is 10%. Your provider’s and organization’s patient volumes change year to year, so rerun your Medicaid reports to identify any new providers who can attest to the Medicaid EHR program, or to verify existing … Read the rest

HTS – MU: Meaningful Use: Second Quarter Review

July 5, 2016 by Dale Applegate Leave a Comment

MU: Are you ready for a 2016 second quarter review?

July 5, 2016

Written by Patty Kosednar

Ok the barbeques are over, and now it’s time to get back to work. I can think of nothing more fun that doing a little meaningful use review. The year is half over. If you’ve barely scratched the surface of MU for this year, read through the old blogs to catch you up.

For your midyear review, first … Read the rest

HTS – MU: Check your MU performance on the Health Information Exchange measure

July 1, 2016 by Dale Applegate Leave a Comment

MU: Check your MU performance on the Health Information Exchange measure

July 1, 2016

Written by Patty Kosednar

Many organizations are experiencing problems meeting this measure (used to be called the “summary of care” or “care transition” measure). If you have not looked at your MU reports recently, you’ll want to. You might be tempted to ignore MU until later this year; however some organizations have had to spend a lot of time working with … Read the rest

HTS – MU: Here are the deadlines for 2015 Medicaid attestations

June 30, 2016 by Dale Applegate Leave a Comment

MU: Here are the deadlines for 2015 Medicaid attestations

June 30, 2016

Written by Patty Kosednar

For providers and hospitals that still need to attest to 2015 MU for the Medicaid program, following is the state level registry (SLR) entry and deadline info:

Alaska
EP – SLR closed for 2015 attestations
EH – SLR due to open 8/1 (estimated) for 2015 attestations
Hawaii
EP – SLR deadline is 7/31/16 for 2015 attestations
EH – SLR

… Read the rest

HTS – MU: Some ways to advance your quality improvement

June 15, 2016 by Dale Applegate 1 Comment

MU: Some Ways to Advance Your Quality Improvement

June 15, 2016

Written by Patty Kosednar

Electronically facilitated clinical quality improvement (eCQI) uses a variety of processes and tools to help continuously improve care and support improved health. eCQI is not only about a set of health IT tools but also about helping people to design and maintain efficient processes that make effective use of technology to sustain continuous improvement cycles and optimize care quality and

… Read the rest

HTS – MU: Catch Up on MU Tasks

June 1, 2016 by Dale Applegate Leave a Comment

MU: Have you completed all your 2016 mid-year Meaningful Use tasks?

June 1, 2016

Written by Patty Kosednar

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):

Confirm ongoing submission or active engagement with public health registries (or ability to

… Read the rest

HTS – MU: Have you sent your eSecure Message yet (EPs only)?

May 15, 2016 by Dale Applegate Leave a Comment

MU: Have you sent your eSecure Message yet (EPs only)?

May 15, 2016

Written by Patty Kosednar

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

HTS – MU: How MACRA will affect Meaningful Use

May 1, 2016 by Dale Applegate Leave a Comment

MU: How MACRA will affect Meaningful Use

May 1, 2016

Written by Patty Kosednar

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

HTS – MU: A quick way to see if you are getting penalized

April 20, 2016 by Dale Applegate Leave a Comment

MU: Is your organization receiving negative adjustments from the CMS Quality and MU programs?

April 20, 2016

Written by Patty Kosednar

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

HTS – MU: It is not too late to get incentive money in the Medicaid EHR Program

April 5, 2016 by Dale Applegate 1 Comment

MU: It is not too late to get incentive money in the Medicaid EHR Program

April 5, 2016

Written by Patty Kosednar

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

HTS – MU: Meaningful Use: First Quarter Review

April 1, 2016 by Dale Applegate Leave a Comment

MU: Have you started your 2016 First Quarter review?

April 1, 2016

Written by Patty Kosednar

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

HTS – MU: CMS releases new FAQ on MU Public Registry Measures

March 30, 2016 by Dale Applegate Leave a Comment

MU: CMS releases new FAQ on MU Public Registry Measures

March 30, 2016

Written by Patty Kosednar

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

HTS – MU: How to figure out if your providers are “hospital based”

March 20, 2016 by Dale Applegate Leave a Comment

MU: How to figure out if your providers are “hospital based” for MU

March 20, 2016

Written by Patty Kosednar

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.

If you are a new EP

… Read the rest

HTS – MU: New deadlines for MU Hardship Application submissions

March 15, 2016 by Dale Applegate Leave a Comment

MU: New deadlines for MU Hardship Application submissions

March 15, 2016

Written by Patty Kosednar

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

HTS – MU: New deadline for 2015 Meaningful Use attestations

March 5, 2016 by Dale Applegate Leave a Comment

MU: New deadline for 2015 Meaningful Use attestations

March 5, 2016

Written by Patty Kosednar

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.

Eligible professionals (EPs), eligible hospitals (EHs) and critical access hospitals (CAHs) participating in the Medicare EHR Incentive program can attest through the CMS . Providers participating in the Medicaid EHR Incentive Program

… Read the rest

HTS – MU: Did you take your MU screenshots yet?

March 1, 2016 by Dale Applegate Leave a Comment

MU: Did you take your MU screenshots yet?

March 1, 2016

Written by Patty Kosednar

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

HTS – PQRS: How to Determine PQRS Eligibility

March 1, 2016 by Dale Applegate Leave a Comment

PQRS: How to Determine PQRS Eligibility

March 1, 2016

Written by Sarah Leake

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

HTS – MU: MU 2016 Task Checklist

February 25, 2016 by Dale Applegate Leave a Comment

MU: Task checklist for 2016 reporting year

February 25, 2016

Written by Patty Kosednar

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.

Create CMS MU audit folder
Determine if providers practice in more than one location
Determine CMS EHR program eligibility
Calculate and document Medicaid Eligibility
Confirm EHR version is

… Read the rest