Meaningful Use / MIPS Stage 3 Recommendations are Approved

On Tuesday, the Health IT Policy Committee approved recommendations made for Meaningful Use / MIPS Stage 3. Of the 26 initial recommendations, 18 were approved. The new recommendations focus mainly on the areas of care planning, imaging, medication, and reminders.

The next step in the process is for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to put out the final rule in 2015. For more details read the Healthcare Informatics article.

New Meaningful Use / MIPS Exemptions Related to Vendor Readiness

Many healthcare providers have faced difficulties attesting to Meaningful Use / MIPS because of their EHR vendors’ lack of readiness. As a result, the federal government has added an exemption to allow providers lenience and the opportunity to apply for exceptions to penalties if their EHR vendor has not received EHR certification for 2014. CMS notes that there are no guarantees, but this additional exemption will definitely help some providers escape penalties as a result of external preparedness issues. More information can be found on Healthcare IT News.

Study Reveals Information and Financial Losses Caused by ICD-10

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago released the results of a study related to the transition to ICD-10. The study, that appeared in the March issue of the Journal of Oncology Practice studied coding ambiguity to predict the challenges providers might face when the ICD-10 deadline arrives. What they found was that the transition from ICD-9 to ICD-10 will likely result in serious information and financial losses. Details on the findings can be found on the University of Illinois at Chicago website.