CMS proposing new e-reporting deadline

The requirement for physicians to report quality data electronically would be delayed for at least a year under rule changes proposed recently by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

Currently, physicians and other eligible professionals can qualify as having met their meaningful use requirements for clinical quality measuring by submitting attestations to CMS. Beginning next year, however, the electronic health record incentive payment program requires physicians to e-report quality data to qualify for payments.

That requirement should be delayed for at least 1 year, according to CMS, because "it is not feasible to receive electronically the information necessary for clinical quality measure reporting based solely" on use of the reporting technology specified in the final rule published in July 2010.