September 25, 2018
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently updated their reporting requirements for Meaningful Use. If you are planning to attest for Meaningful Use through your state Medicaid program for the 2018 reporting year, it is important to take note of the new requirements to make sure you are in compliance and do not receive any penalties on your reimbursement rate for the year.
In accordance with the treatments you provide your patients, you will be required to attest to CMS (either Medicare or Medicaid) that the information is accurate. This will help protect you against penalties on your reimbursement rate from CMS for patient procedures.
The 2018 reporting period will end on December 31, 2018. In order to ensure accurate reporting, we encourage you to take the following steps:
Ensure Data Accuracy
To start, it is important that you review your practice’s Meaningful Use report from GlaceEMR to verify the accuracy of your data. Glenwood provides the certified software (GlaceEMR) for you to perform the needed tasks and easily create final reports to keep your data organized properly. When used correctly, this helps ensure an accurate and seamless attestation process. If you have any questions about GlaceEMR and how to effectively utilize this tool, contact Glenwood Tech Support at (877) 728-7070. We will be glad to help you with technical questions as well as any questions about the reports to be submitted to the state agencies.
Verify Requirements through State Agencies
You will also want to contact your various state agencies who will receive a copy of the report to verify requirements and to ensure you are in compliance. Requirements vary slightly from state-to-state and it is important that you check with your individual state department and agencies to ensure you have the correct information regarding attestation requirements.
Take Note of Specific Requirements
Several areas of reporting involve specific requirements that are critical to follow for accurate reporting.
- Immunization Registry Submission: Routine immunization records must be electronically submitted via an electronic interface to your state agency.
- Syndromic Surveillance: If your practice handles syndromic surveillance data and if your specific state supports electronic submission, you will be required to register an account and submit the data electronically.
- Specialized Registry: If your state supports electronic submission and if your practice handles any specialized registries data, it is important to contact your state agency to confirm the required process for submission.
- Patient Portal Measures: There are specific data submission requirements related to Patient Portal use, including a 10% threshold for secure messaging and a 10% threshold for view, download, and transmit.
- Security Risk Analysis: A security risk analysis should be completed each year by the practice and is mandatory unless a hardship exception is secured. If you have questions regarding your eligibility for a hardship exception, we recommend you contact an outside risk analysis vendor to advise you in the process.
- Direct Messaging: The transitions of care and referrals sent during the EHR reporting period should be transmitted via Direct Messaging. Each state will have a different threshold for the transmitted messages.
As you can see, there are many specific nuances in the attestation process and it is important that you are clear on your state’s specific requirements.
Remember, if you fail any objective, it will be impossible to correct and resubmit the data at the last minute, so it is critical that you are thorough and accurate in the process.Remember to reach out to the Glenwood Tech Support Team (877) 728-7070 with any questions regarding the use of GlaceEMR for the attestation reporting process. We are here to help you succeed!