With new coding and systems implementations, Meaningful Use / MIPS attestation, and transitions to new processes — there is a lot of change in healthcare and a lot of risk for mistakes. With the risk for mistakes comes financial penalties.

For most, October 1, 2014 is a big deadline to meet in order to avoid penalties. While it seems far away, we’re only a little more than a year from a date that will require a significant amount of work for hospitals who need to attest to Meaningful Use / MIPS and successfully transition to ICD-10. 2013 is a big year for health IT.

The news we feature this week discusses the importance of the upcoming year and emphasizes the importance of no longer delaying your efforts, but diving in. 

If you’ve already attested, 2013 is an important year to continue Meaningful Use / MIPS

In an interview with Rob Anthony, a health insurance specialist in the Office of E-Health Standards and Services at CMS, he discusses the importance of the upcoming year in regards to Meaningful Use / MIPS.

According to Anthony, 2013 is a pivotal year for providers that first attested to Meaningful Use / MIPS between 2009 and 2011. Early attesters will be judged by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on their 2013 performance, when it’s time to start assessing Meaningful Use / MIPS penalties in 2015. For many, this is their last chance to avoid payment adjustments.

He also discusses the reality that October 1, 2014 is the absolute last day to attest to being a Meaningful Use / MIPSr in order to avoid the payment adjustments.

Read the rest of the interview for helpful information about incentives and penalties that will be imposed.

Testing is the Key in the Transition to ICD-10

This next article also highlights tips provided by CMS. This piece focuses on the importance of testing in the transition to ICD-10. It includes a list of steps, provided by CMS for large providers, organizing ICD-10 testing. The list details the following activities:

• Creating a quality assurance plan
• Defining a trading partner communication plan
• The ways providers should work with Trading Partners for testing
• Creating a Test Plan that can be used for each stage of testing
• A list of items that test scripts should include
• Level 1 testing activities
• Final steps for testing

Begin building your testing plan by reading this article.

The EHR Association Releases an EHR Developer Code of Conduct

Recently, the EHR Association released a code of conduct that applies to developers of EHRs. The core topics of the Code of Conduct include:

• General business practices
• Patient safety
• Interoperability and data portability
• Clinical and billing documentation
• Privacy and security
• Patient engagement

While this seems to be good news, it appears that there isn’t a lot of room for enforcement of the rules. An article at EMRandHIPAA.com discusses some of the shortcomings of these new guidelines.

Prepare for the HIPAA Compliance Deadline to Avoid Penalties

With the Omnibus HIPAA Deadline on the horizon, it’s important to begin to consider the ramifications of not meeting the compliance requirements and the penalties those requirements impose. We found a great infographic this week that details the penalties. Enjoy!