Final MU Stage 2 Rules Released

Despite complaints from the American Hospital Association and others, HHS stood its ground and will require stakeholders to provide patients with the ability to view, download, and transmit their health information on the Internet, as well as provide clinical summaries of care for each office visit.

Among the highlights of the final rule:

Core and menu objectives

• Nearly all of the Stage 1 core and menu objectives are retained for Stage 2. Eligible professionals must meet the measure or qualify for an exclusion to 17 core objectives and three of six menu objectives. Eligible hospitals and CAHs must meet the measure or qualify for an exclusion to 16 core objectives and three of six menu objectives.
• The "exchange of key clinical information" core objective from Stage 1 is replaced with a "transitions of care" core objective in Stage 2.
• "Provide patients with an electronic copy of their health information" objective is replaced by a "view online, download, and transmit" core objective.