The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued updates to Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 Medicare payment policies and rates under the Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) and the Long-Term Care Hospital (LTCH) Prospective Payment System (PPS) final rule (CMS-1694-F) on August 2nd.
The final rule changes the following aspects of the Promoting Interoperability (PI) Programs (formerly known as the EHR Incentive Programs):
- Sets a new performance-based scoring methodology for the Medicare Promoting Interoperability Program
- Requires the use of 2015 Edition CEHRT for eligible hospitals (EHs) and critical access hospitals (CAHs) beginning in Calendar Year (CY) 2019
- Finalizes an EHR reporting period of any consecutive 90-day period for new and returning CMS or State Medicaid agency participants in CYs 2019 and 2020
- Finalizes changes to measures, adds new measures and removes certain measures that do not emphasize interoperability and the electronic exchange of health information beginning in CY 2020
- Requires EHs and CAHs to select one quarter of CY 2019 data and choose at least four self-selected electronic clinical quality measures (eCQMs) from a set of 16 for eCQM reporting
To learn more about these and other finalized changes, you may review the final rule, press release, and the fact sheet. For more information on the PI Programs, visit the CMS PI Programs landing page or contact our team of expert advisors at Kentucky REC with any Promoting Interoperability questions via email or by phone at 859-323-3090.
Successfully navigating the complex and evolving Promoting Interoperability landscape can be a challenging task. We work closely with our clients, providing efficient and effective advisory services to guide them through the multifaceted environment unique to health information technology.
We are here to help! Contact Kentucky REC today to learn more about the support we provide.
