CMS Publishes Meaningful Use Stage 3 Proposed Rule

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) for Meaningful Use Stage 3 and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) released its NPRM for Certification Criteria for 2015 Edition Base EHR Definition.

Over the past few months, both CMS and ONC have indicated that Stage 3 “would be intended to be responsive to provider concerns about software implementation, information exchange readiness, and other related concerns in 2015. It would also be intended to propose changes reflective of developments in the industry and progress toward program goals achieved since the program began in 2011.” According to the same blog post by Deputy Administrator for Innovation & Quality and CMS Chief Medical Officer Dr. Patrick Conway, “CMS intends to limit the scope of the Stage 3 proposed rule to the requirements and criteria for meaningful use in 2017 and subsequent years.”  

Anesthesiologists who have a physician’s specialty designation of “05” under the Provider, Enrollment, Chain and Ownership System (PECOS) currently have a hardship exemption under the EHR Incentive Program. Please visit the ASA EHR Incentive Program webpage for more information on the program.

ASA staff is currently reviewing the proposed rules. For additional information, please contact the ASA Department of Quality and Regulatory Affairs (QRA) at (202) 289-2222 or via email [email protected].