Meaningful Use Myths

Meaningful Use misinformation seems to accrue on a regular basis. I’ll try to regularly update this area as these questions arise. Some are already answered as separate blog entries in this category.

Myth: The attestation process is difficult and most health care providers will need extensive hand-holding and training to get through it.

The Facts: Myriad ECLIPSE users have already attested and received payments by reviewing our blog entry here and reviewing two sections in our online HELP designed to walk you through the process. Here’s a quote from a client who has been through the process: “our office attested to CMS for Meaningful use on October 19, 2011 and received the full $18,000 on November 30, 2011. It was quick and easy.”

Myth: If you don’t charge a minimum of $24,000 in services in 2011, you’re not eligible for any payments.

The Facts: Your payment will be held until the reporting period is complete or you hit the $24,000 threshold. This allows CMS to avoid issuing multiple payments.

From CMS: How and when will incentive payments for the Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Program be made? Incentive payments for the Medicare EHR Incentive Program will be made approximately four to six weeks after an eligible professional (EP), eligible hospital, or Critical Access Hospital (CAH) successfully attests that they have demonstrated meaningful use of certified EHR technology. Payments to Medicare providers will be made to the taxpayer identification number (TIN) selected at the time of registration, through the same channels their claims payments are made. The form of payment (electronic funds transfer or check) will be the same as claims payments. While CMS expects that Medicare incentive payments will begin in May 2011, payments will be held for EPs until the EP meets the $24,000 threshold in allowed charges.

Myth: If you don’t have certified technology in place prior to December 31st, 2011, you can still attest for a 90 day period that began in 2011 (e.g. 10/1/2011 – 12/31/2011).

The Facts: CMS expects you to have certified technology in place before you begin attestation. Whether they’ll actually check dates after the fact… it’s hard to say. In general, this only seems to be a topic of discussion with vendors pursuing software sales with technology that isn’t yet certified.

From CMS: Do I need to have an electronic health record (EHR) system in order to register for the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs? You do not need to have a certified EHR in order to register for the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs. However, to receive an incentive payment under the Medicare program, you must attest that you have demonstrated meaningful use of certified EHR technology during the EHR reporting period. For the first year of payment, the EHR reporting period is 90 consecutive days within the calendar year for eligible professionals (EPs) or within the Federal fiscal year for eligible hospitals and critical access hospitals (CAHs)…

Myth: I attended a seminar and was told I can always use zero as a value for any measure’s numerator and still successfuly attest.

The Facts:  Do the math. When a measure has a numerator and denominator, the denominator indicates how many patients in your practice it was possible to meet this objective for.  The numerator specifies the number of patients for whom this objective was actually met. A zero means you haven’t met the objective for anyone. Thus, if you attempt to do this for non-excluded measures, your attestation will fail.

‍