Program Year 2019
Beginning with the EHR reporting period in calendar year 2019, all participants in the Medicaid EHR Incentive Program (aka Medicaid Promoting Interoperability (PI) Program) are required to use 2015 Edition Certified EHR Technology (CEHRT) and report on Stage 3 Meaningful Use. This requirement will benefit health care providers and patients by using the most up-to-date standards and functions to better support interoperable exchange of health information and improve clinical workflows. The 2015 Edition CEHRT does not need to be implemented by January 1, 2019 but
must be used for entirety of the self-selected 2019 90-day EHR reporting period.
Changes to Meaningful Use Requirements for Program Year 2019
Released November 1, 2018, the CY 2019 Medicare Physicians Fee Schedule (PFS) Final Rule has made changes to the previously established 2019 Stage 3 Objectives and Measures. These changes have been made to reduce burden, increase interoperability, and improve patient electronic access to their health information under the Promoting Interoperability Programs.
Please see below to note the changes to Program Year 2019 Meaningful Use Objectives and Measures and Electronic Clinical Quality Measures (eCQMs).
Medicaid Promoting Interoperability Program (beginning on page 813 of the
CY 2019 PFS Final Rule)
Meaningful Use Objectives and Measures (beginning on page 832):
1.
For Program Year 2019, the threshold
Objective 6 – Coordination of Care through Patient Engagement, Measure 1 (view, download, or transmit or access health information) and
Measure 2 (secure messaging) was set at
five percent for the remainder of the Medicaid EHR Incentive Program (aka PI Program).
2.
In addition, the requirement that only Eligible Professionals (EPs) in urgent care settings can use the Syndromic Surveillance measure to meet the
Objective 8 – Public Health and Clinical Data Registry Reporting was removed.
Electronic Clinical Quality Measures (beginning on page 815):
2.
In 2019, EPs who are returning meaningful users must report on a
one-year eCQM reporting period for and first-time meaningful users must report on a
90-day eCQM reporting period.
3.
EPs are required to report on any
six eCQMs related to their scope of practice. In addition, EPs are required to report on at least
one outcome or high-priority measure. If there are no outcome or high priority measures relevant to an EP’s scope of practice, they may report on any six relevant measures.
Program Year 2019 Reminders
Consistent with Program Year 2018, EPs will upload eCQM data to the Clinical Quality Metrics Registry (CQMR). As we discussed in the
Program Year 2019 webinar, you will upload eCQM data to the CQMR either as QRDA III files or using the
Excel template 2019 version. Although you will continue to use MAPIR for the rest of the attestation, you will no longer manually enter eCQMs into MAPIR. A complete attestation includes submissions to both MAPIR and the CQMR. Both portions of the attestation must be submitted by
March 31, 2020.
To ensure you are ready to upload your eCQMs when you attest, please begin the onboarding process to the CQMR. Onboarding involves registering for a OneHealthPort account; completing legal agreements; and reviewing training materials. You can find details on our
onboarding page. Training materials, including a step-by-step guide, are available on the CQMR
Resources page.
Many requirements from PY 2018 still exist for PY 2019:
·
Providers must still attest to:
o
A single set of objectives and measures
o
At least two Public Health measures
·
There are no alternate exclusions
Please see the table below for additional requirements: