The Medicare Interoperability Program
On May 1 CMS open the period for applying for the Difficulty Exemption for Eligible and Critical Access Hospitals that participated in the Medicare Interoperability Promotion Program in the 2021 calendar year. For the reporting period for CY 2021, the CMS requires all eligible hospitals and CAHs to use (1) the existing certification criteria from the 2015 edition, (2) the criteria for updating the 2015 edition cure, or (3) a combination of both to successfully meet the requirements of the program, as finalized in the final rule for the doctor’s fee schedule for CY 2021 (85 FR 84818 to 84828). The CMS obliges payment adjustments to apply to eligible hospitals and CAHs that were not significant CEHRT users and scored below the minimum requirement of 50 points and failed to report two self-selected calendar quarters of the eCQM data for four self-selected eCQM.
Already available: Updated eCQM specifications and deployment resources for 2023 for the reporting period / productivity period
CMS has published the 2023 eCQM reporting / implementation specifications for eligible hospitals and critical access hospitals, hospital hybrids, outpatient quality reporting and eligible clinicians. The CMS updates the specifications annually to bring them into line with current clinical guidelines and code systems so that they remain appropriate and applicable in clinical care. The measures will not be eligible for 2023 reporting unless and until they are proposed and finalized by drawing up notification and comment rules for each applicable program.
Medicare 2022 Interoperability Promotion Program Specification Sheets are now available
CMS has released the Medicare 2022 Interoperability Promotion Program Specification Sheets for Eligible Hospitals and Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs). The specification sheets provide guidance on the programme’s measures. scoring details and additional resources for participating eligible hospitals and CAHs.
“Medicare and Medicaid Interoperability Programs” becomes “Medicare Interoperability Promotion Program for Eligible Hospitals and CAHs” following the completion of the Medicaid Interoperability Promotion Program
With the Medicaid Interoperability Promotion Program ending in 2021, CMS changed the name of the Medicare Interoperability Programs and Medicaid to the Medicare Interoperability Promotion Program for Eligible Hospitals and CAHs. Previously, the information disseminated in the list to promote the interoperability of the programs was for the participants in both programs. In the future, the information disseminated through this listserv will only be relevant to eligible and critically accessible hospitals participating in the Medicare Interoperability Promotion Program.
