CMS Extends Hospital 2014 Meaningful Use Reporting Deadline

Kyle Murphy | EHR Intelligence | November 24, 2014

The 2014 meaningful use reporting deadline for eligible hospitals and CAHs is now set for Dec. 31, 2014.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has timely news for eligible hospitals (EHs) struggling to meet the 2014 meaningful use reporting deadline originally scheduled for next week.  The federal agency is giving EHs and critical access hospitals (CAHs) in the Medicare EHR Incentive Program an additional month to attest for meaningful use for the 2014 reporting year:

CMS is extending the deadline for eligible hospitals and Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) to attest to meaningful use for the Medicare Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Program 2014 reporting year from 11:59 pm EST on November 30, 2014 to 11:59 pm EST on December 31, 2014.  This extension will allow more time for hospitals to submit their meaningful use data and receive an incentive payment for the 2014 program year, as well as avoid the 2016 Medicare payment adjustment.  CMS is also extending the deadline for eligible hospitals and CAHs that are electronically submitting clinical quality measures (CQMs) to meet that requirement of meaningful use and the Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting (IQR) program. Hospitals now have until December 31, 2014 to submit their eCQM data via Quality Net.

The extension should help EHs and CAHs looking to avoid 2016 payment adjustments for Medicare-eligible hospitals failing to demonstrate meaningful use in 2014. As noted by CMS, the extension has no bearing on the Medicaid EHR Incentive Program.
The federal agency is once again providing meaningful use attestation guidance as part of its update...