New Wave of Meaningful Use Audits Launched by the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) Most of us have gotten pretty used to the Meaningful Use (MU) audits being conducted by Figliozzi & Company. They are the folks that have been conducting the CMS EHR Incentive audits for both eligible hospitals (EH) and professionals (EP) […]
CMS Proposed Rule Creates Meaningful Use Confusion We have entered Zombie Land. The 2011 Edition of certified technology was put to rest on December 31, 2013. The nails were put in the coffin. We said our goodbyes, made our peace, and tried to move on. Now without warning a CMS Proposed Rule threatens to bring […]
Ah, the life of a hospital CIO. Sometimes everything just falls into place. It doesn’t matter if you work for a 40 bed rural Critical Access Hospital (CAH) or a 700 bed critical care center in an urban center, the satisfaction can be the same. All the details of your CMS EHR incentive attestation were […]
The Delay of ICD-10 Dealing from the bottom of the deck. Winning at any cost. If I can’t get what I want from you at the front door you might find me crawling in your window at midnight. Politicians like to say they care about transparency, just like many of them claim to be a […]
A Proactive Approach to Meaningful Use Audits – Part II I trust my post last week directed to Eligible Hospitals (EHs) and Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) was convincing on the need to conduct mock audits on their CMS EHR Incentive attestations. There is simply too much at stake. I have seen enough failed audits and […]
A Proactive Approach to Meaningful Use Audits Well, you could wait and play the odds and hope you are one of the hospitals that doesn’t get audited for those CMS EHR Incentive attestations that brought in seven figure incentives. This is what most Eligible Hospitals (EHs) and Critical Access Hospitals (s) are doing. You could […]
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
Majority of Failed Audits Tied to MU Measures and Security Risk Analysis Last week found me in Orlando at the annual HIMSS conference sniffing out any information and news related to the CMS EHR Incentives programs and those pesky audits. Some of what I discovered is based on officially announced policy but there have also […]
CMS Offers EHs Meaningful Use Attestation Assistance My grandfather, raised in the red hills of North Georgia, used to call it “getting caught with your pants up”. I saw the same thing in the first Hunger Games movie when those little surprise parachutes would float down with food and medicine. I like those little parachutes, […]
Indictment Issued for False Statements to CMS and Aggravated Identity Theft It was just a matter of time before the CMS EHR Incentive audit process uncovered alleged actions so severe that there was nothing left to do but issue Federal criminal indictments. I’ve been waiting for some time for the first report of this type […]
Whether you are an Eligible Hospital (EH) or Eligible Professional (EP) receiving a “negative determination” at the conclusion of a Meaningful Use incentive audit can definitely raise your anxiety level. A pre-payment audit failed is bad enough but a post-payment failure can lead to sleepless nights. The Federal Government is telling you that they want […]
Munck Wilson Mandala Partner Greg Howison shared his perspective on some of the legal ramifications around AI, IP, connected devices and the data they generate, in response to emailed questions.
When it rains it pours. In West Africa it is called the monsoon. In Costa Rica it is the green season. Growing up in Georgia we just called it a gully washer. Whatever you call it, there seems to be a virtual storm of meaningful use (MU) eligible hospital (EH) audits popping up all over […]
It is there in black and white on page 68 of the Final Rule “Therefore, for the Medicare EHR incentive program beginning in CY 2012 we proposed that an EP using a certified EHR technology or beginning in FY 2012 an eligible hospital or CAH using a certified EHR technology, as appropriate for clinical quality […]
One very common question I receive about the CMS EHR Incentive Programs for Eligible Providers (EPs) concerns their use of a separate Practice Management System. Many EPs have an EHR that has received Certified Complete EHR status from CMS. They often have a separate Practice Management System that incorporates the functionality to maintain scheduling, billing, patient accounts, and […]
So the holidays have past and we can all ease back into the well-known and comfortable understanding of Stage 1 Meaningful Use and incentives. Correct? Well don’t get too deep in that couch. Sure the incentives are flying into inboxes at a record pace. In November 2011 alone over $585,000,000 was paid out to Eligible Professionals and Eligible Hospitals as incentives. I hope […]
The CMS EHR Incentive Program is going full bore. Over $390,000,000 was paid out in November alone by Medicare to Eligible Professionals (EP) and Eligible Hospitals (EH). That doesn’t even include the Medicaid incentives. Seems like every possible EHR is certified, EPs and EHs are registering, and we’ve even seen the Stage 1 early 2011 […]
