CMS is seeking public comment as it works to finalize clinical quality reporting measures for Stage 2 of the meaningful use program, Government Health IT reports (Mosquera, Government Health IT, 2/27).
Under the 2009 federal economic stimulus package, health care providers who demonstrate meaningful use of certified electronic health records can qualify for Medicaid and Medicare incentive payments.
Background
Last week, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT released a proposed rule on requirements for health care providers attesting to Stage 2 of the meaningful use program and another proposed rule on the Stage 2 criteria for the certification of EHRs (iHealthBeat, 2/27).
The proposed requirements for health care providers call for aligning clinical quality measures under the meaningful use program with other programs that involve quality reporting, such as the Medicare Physician Quality Reporting System and the shared savings program for accountable care organizations (iHealthBeat, 2/23).
Quality Measures Under Consideration
CMS is seeking input on a list of 125 potential clinical quality measures for physicians and 49 potential clinical quality measures for hospitals. Some of the measures CMS is considering would call for health care providers to report the percentage of:
- Patients with asthma who were evaluated at least once for asthma control;
- Patients with hypertension whose blood pressure was controlled during the year being measured; and
- Adult patients with coronary artery disease who were prescribed aspirin or clopidogrel to inhibit blood clotting.
CMS plans to select a subset of the suggested clinical quality measures, which then could become part of the final Stage 2 requirements (Government Health IT, 2/27).