CMS has published on its website the complete set of clinical quality measures included in the proposed rules for Stage 2 of the meaningful use program, CMIO reports (Byer, CMIO, 4/9).
Under the 2009 federal economic stimulus package, health care providers who demonstrate meaningful use of certified electronic health record systems can qualify for Medicaid and Medicare incentive payments.
About Stage 2
In February, CMS and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT released two notices of proposed rulemaking on Stage 2 of the meaningful use program. The two notices are:
-
CMS' proposed rule, which outlines requirements for hospitals and health care providers seeking to attest to Stage 2 of the meaningful use program; and
-
ONC's proposed rule, which outlines standards and criteria for the certification of EHRs under Stage 2 of the meaningful use program (iHealthBeat, 4/5).
Details on the Clinical Quality Measures
Under the Stage 2 proposed rules, eligible professionals would need to meet 12 clinical quality measures out of a list of 125, and hospitals would need to meet 24 clinical quality measures out of a list of 49.
The clinical quality measure requirement is one of the "core" objectives that hospitals and health care providers must meet in Stage 2 of the meaningful use program.
According to CMS, hospitals can submit their clinical quality measures through the Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting System, and eligible professionals can submit their measures through the Physician Quality Reporting System. CMS said it aligned the submission processes for the meaningful use program and the quality reporting initiatives to make it easier for health care providers to participate in both programs (Versel, InformationWeek, 4/9).
Next Steps
CMS noted that some of the clinical quality measures posted online still are under development and that descriptions of those measures might change before the Stage 2 final rules are published (Goedert, Health Data Management, 4/9).
CMS is accepting public comments on the proposed clinical quality measures through May 7. Interested parties can submit comments through the Regulations.gov website (Roney, Becker's Hospital Review, 4/9).