Three percent of eligible hospitals have attested to Stage 2.

CMS and ONC revealed the latest statistics on Stage 2 progress this week during the Health IT Policy committee meeting. The results show slow movement. One percent of eligible providers and three percent of eligible hospitals have attested to Stage 2 to date. CMS pointed out that the data is early — second quarter attestation data arrived on July 1. Many are alarmed by the small numbers, but CMS suggests that it’s a result of the new reporting periods, and that more progress will be seen in the next round of reporting. 

According to CMS, October 1, 2015 is still the ICD-10 implementation deadline. 

CMS recently made an announcement, reiterating the October 1, 2015 deadline and assured the health care industry that the final rule, to be published soon, will maintain this deadline.

The Department of Health and Human Services plans to release a final rule in the near future that will include the new compliance date that gives providers an extra year to prepare. The final rule will also require the continued use of ICD-9 for services provided through September 30, 2015.

Health care is becoming increasingly more value-based and hospitals must meet these new demands. 

It’s a reality that health care is becoming outcome and value-based instead of fee for service-based and the only path to maintaining a viable health care organization is your ability to produce value.

What does this emerging focus on value mean for the hospital IT department? The government, payers, hospitals, and indeed the entire industry has doubled down on two concepts to improve the value of health care:

This week, Phoenix’ own Thomas Grove published a piece discussing what this means for health care providers and how leaders in the industry should proceed in order to remain competitive.