CMS to extend MU2 and MU3 EHR incentive program for physicians

Timelines were extended today to meet Meaningful Use (MU) 2 and 3 electronic health record (EHR) incentives, report two top officials from the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) for Health Information Technology for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

In a post published today, Robert Tagalicod, director in the Office of E-Health Standards and Jacob Reider, MD, ONC’s acting national coordinator for health information technology, report, “Under the revised timeline, Stage 2 will be extended through 2016 and Stage 3 will begin in 2017 for those providers that have completed at least two years in Stage 2.

“The goal of this change is two-fold: first, to allow CMS and ONC to focus efforts on the successful implementation of the enhanced patient engagement, interoperability and health information exchange requirements in Stage 2; and second, to utilize data from Stage 2 participation to inform policy decisions for Stage 3.”

The phased approach, Tagalicod and Reider say, will help providers move to exchanging health information in Stage 2 and focusing on improved outcomes in Stage 3.

“This approach has allowed us to support an aggressive yet smart transition for providers,” Tagalicod and Reider say.

Click here to read the full post.