Meaningful Use and Interoperability for Health Centers

The Changing Landscape of Spring 2018

On Tuesday, April 24, 2018, CMS Administrator Seema Verma announced changes to overhaul the Meaningful Use EHR incentive program (MU), and renaming it “Promoting Interoperability”. While the announcement and the public updates to the EHR incentive program page at the CMS website refers primarily to changes for the inpatient setting, Federally Qualified Health Centers need to be prepared for subsequent changes to the Medicaid EHR incentive program to further focus on interoperability.

Indeed, the 2018 Medicaid EHR Incentive Program Stage 3 Objective 7 for Eligible Professional (EP), Health Information Exchange (HIE), has significantly increased requirements for providers beyond that of 2015-2017 MU requirements. The changing MU interoperability requirements reflect a change from merely being capable of generating and transmitting interoperable patient records to receiving and using the generated records.

Update: On July 27 2018, CMS and HHS released this proposed rule related to the Medicare Program, Revisions to Payment Policies under the Physician Fee Schedule and Other Revisions to Part B for CY 2019, Medicare Shared Savings Program Requirements, Quality Payment Program; and Medicaid Promoting Interoperability Program.

Download the issue brief below for more details about what this means for health centers.