CMS Touts Early Success of MU Payments

This article appears in the December 2011 issue of HealthLeaders magazine.

Providers may have faced challenges in their preparation for attesting to stage 1 meaningful use, but CMS is upbeat about results from the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs in 2011, says Robert Tagalicod, director of CMS’ Office of E-Health Standards and Services.

As of the end of August, 2,243 providers have received payment for meaningful use for the Medicare EHR Incentive Program, Tagalicod says. Of all the providers who have submitted their attestation, only a very small number—fewer than 30 providers overall—have failed, he says.

“I think that’s a very good indicator about the level of understanding in regard to the EHR Incentive Programs, and a good indicator of how dedicated providers are to meeting the meaningful use requirements,” he says.

 CMS intends to do a more in-depth analysis of what may have led those providers to fail, but Tagalicod says it’s just too early to draw conclusions from the small number who failed so far.

“What is encouraging to us at this point is the number of providers who are already successfully attesting and the number we’ve heard anecdotally are planning to attest in the coming months,” he says. “We’re excited about these early successes in the EHR Incentive Programs.”

If a provider is unsure about whether it is prepared to attest, Tagalicod recommends the educational tools and resources available on the EHR Incentive Programs website at www.cms.gov/EHRIncentivePrograms.

“Our Meaningful Use Attestation Calculator, for example, allows providers to enter their attestation information exactly as they would enter it into the online attestation system and see whether or not they would pass,” he says. “We also have a number of publications and user guides that walk you through the details of the meaningful use objectives, as well as the step-by-step process for registration and attestation.”
 

This article appears in the December 2011 issue of HealthLeaders magazine.