Beginning with the EHR
reporting period in calendar year 2019, all participants in the Medicaid EHR
Incentive Program (aka Medicaid Promoting Interoperability (PI) Program) are
required to use 2015 Edition Certified EHR Technology (CEHRT) and report on
Stage 3 Meaningful Use. This requirement will benefit health care providers and
patients by using the most up-to-date standards and functions to better support
interoperable exchange of health information and improve clinical workflows.
The 2015 Edition CEHRT does not need to be implemented by January 1, 2019 but must
be used for entirety of the self-selected 2019 90-day EHR reporting period.
Changes to Meaningful
Use Requirements for Program Year 2019
Released November 1, 2018,
the CY 2019 Medicare Physicians Fee Schedule (PFS) Final Rule has made changes
to the previously established 2019 Stage 3 Objectives and Measures. These
changes have been made to reduce burden, increase interoperability, and improve
patient electronic access to their health information under the Promoting
Interoperability Programs.
Please see below to note the changes to
Program Year 2019 Meaningful Use
Objectives and Measures
and Electronic Clinical Quality Measures (eCQMs).
·
Meaningful
Use Objectives and Measures (beginning on page 832):
1.
For Program Year 2019,
the threshold Objective 6 – Coordination
of Care through Patient Engagement, Measure 1 (view, download, or transmit
or access health information) and Measure
2 (secure messaging) was set at five
percent for the remainder of the Medicaid EHR Incentive Program (aka PI
Program).
2.
In addition, the
requirement that only Eligible Professionals (EPs) in urgent care settings can
use the Syndromic Surveillance measure to meet the Objective 8 – Public Health and Clinical Data Registry Reporting
was removed.
·
Electronic Clinical Quality Measures
(beginning on page 815):
2.
In 2019, EPs who are returning
meaningful users must report on a one-year
eCQM reporting period for and first-time meaningful users must report on a 90-day eCQM reporting period.
3.
EPs are required to report on any six eCQMs related to their scope of
practice. In addition, EPs are required to report on at least one outcome or high-priority measure.
If there are no outcome or high priority measures relevant to an EP’s scope of
practice, they may report on any six relevant measures.
Program Year 2019
Reminders
Consistent with
Program Year 2018, EPs will upload eCQM data to the Clinical Quality Metrics
Registry (CQMR). As we discussed in the Program Year 2019 webinar, you will upload eCQM data to the CQMR either
as QRDA III files or using an Excel
template. Although you will
continue to use MAPIR for the rest of the attestation, you will no longer
manually enter eCQMs into MAPIR. A complete attestation includes submissions to
both MAPIR and the CQMR. Both portions of the attestation must be submitted by March
31, 2020.
To ensure you are
ready to upload your eCQMs when you attest, please begin the onboarding process
to the CQMR. Onboarding involves registering for a OneHealthPort account;
completing legal agreements; and reviewing training materials. You can find
details on our onboarding page. Webinars, coming in early 2019, will provide more
information on using the system.
Many requirements from PY 2018 still
exist for PY 2019:
·
Providers must still attest
to:
o
A single set of
objectives and measures
o
At least two Public
Health measures
·
There are no alternate
exclusions
Please see the table
below for additional requirements: