Kentucky REC expert advisors are hosting a webinar on the Medicare Promoting Interoperability (PI) Program for Eligible Hospitals and Critical Access Hospitals. We will review the 2023 Medicare PI requirements and highlight the recently released FY 2024 Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) proposed rule.

MEDICARE PROMOTING INTEROPERABILITY PROGRAM FOR HOSPITALS

WEDNESDAY JUNE 7 12:00 – 1:00 PM ET

Historical Background of the Program:

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 mandated that CMS incentivize hospitals to adopt, implement, and upgrade certified electronic health record technology (CEHRT) and demonstrate meaningful use. In response, the EHR Incentive Program, (formerly known as Meaningful Use), was first introduced in 2011 under the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act. CMS implemented the program in progressively more difficult stages and initially offered incentive payments to participants. The incentives continued through 2016 for most hospitals, depending on which year they started in the program.

Although the incentive phase of the program ended long ago, hospitals must continue to participate in the program each year to avoid a downward Medicare financial adjustment.

As we progressed through Stages 1, 2 and 3, CMS maintained their underlying focus on the adoption and implementation of CEHRT through an evolution of objectives, measures, and electronic Clinical Quality Measures (eCQMs) tailored to meet their goals. More recently, CMS overhauled the program, improving flexibility, relieving burden, and placing emphasis on measures that require the electronic exchange of health information between providers and patients. CMS shifted their focus to interoperability and improving patient access to health information. These changes moved the program beyond the previously existing requirements into a new phase of EHR measurement.

The Medicare Promoting Interoperability Program, as you know it today, includes a set of objectives, measures, eCQMs, and other requirements that together define whether a hospital has met the minimum standards to be considered a meaningful user. Hospitals that do not meet the minimum program requirements, meaning they’re not meaningful users of CEHRT, receive a downward payment adjustment.

Contact the experts at Kentucky REC with all your Promoting Interoperability questions. We’re here to help: 859-323-3090.