The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has added descriptive specification sheets for Meaningful Use Stage 2 to help eligible physicians and hospitals to participate and complete the measures for the electronic health record (EHR) incentive programs.
Each specification sheet includes the objective, measure, and how to calculate the numerator and denominator where needed for each core and menu objective, such as for computerized provider order entry (CPOE) or generate lists of patients by conditions, according to a Nov. 9 CMS update. The information also provides a definition of important terms, how to qualify for an exclusion and the attestation requirements.
The specification sheets also detail the corresponding standards and certification criteria that the EHR system should be capable of performing to meet the stage 2 measure. For example for CPOE, an EHR must enable a user to electronically record, change and access orders for medications, laboratory and radiology/imaging.
The specification sheets can be found on the Stage 2 page of the EHR website.
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The Stage 2 Specification Sheet Table of Contents by physician and by hospital lists all the core and menu objectives, with direct links to each individual measure specification sheet. Providers can also download zip files aimed at physician or at hospital that contain PDFs of all of the core and menu objectives they will need.
The earliest that the stage 2 criteria will be effective is in fiscal year 2014 for eligible hospitals and critical access hospitals or calendar year 2014 for eligible physicians and professionals, CMS said.
