Meaningful Use Attestation: What’s in a Number?

As the end of the first month of 2014 draws near, many nephrologists are in the midst of meaningful use attestation. As you may recall it is during the attestation process that the nephrologist, or his or her designee, logs into the CMS portal and enters the provider’s meaningful use data. This process can take anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour or more depending on how familiar you are with the process. CMS provides a well-written user’s guide that I suggest you take a look at prior to initiating the attestation process.

 

Through the end of November 2013, almost 5,000 nephrologists taking the Medicare path to meaningful use have successfully navigated the attestation process.

 

The CHPL

 

The meaningful use veterans among you will understand part of this process involves tracking down the appropriate EHR certification ID. CMS maintains those IDs on the Certified Health IT Product List (CHPL). Quoting the site, “The Certified Health IT Product List (CHPL) provides the authoritative, comprehensive listing of Complete Electronic Health Records (EHRs) and EHR Modules that have been tested and certified under the ONC HIT Certification Program, maintained by The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC).”

 

The addition of the 2014 Edition certification adds a layer of complexity to the CHPL. Previously, there was a single collection of EHRs in the CHPL, which was the group that had achieved the original 2011 meaningful use certification. Today there are three categories:

• The original 2011 edition,
• The new 2014 edition, and
• A category for providers who used a combination of 2011 edition and 2014 edition certified EHRs during 2013.

 

Certification ID

 

So how does one locate the appropriate ID? The majority of you who have previously registered for meaningful use have nothing to worry about regarding the certification ID. CMS will assume you are using the same EHR for 2013 that was in your original registration. Those of you who either changed medical practices, or stayed in the same practice but switched EHRs, will need to track down a new certification ID. Also, those of you for whom 2013 is your first year of meaningful use will need to find your EHR certification ID when you register.

 

To locate the appropriate certification ID, you navigate through the CHPL as though you were “shopping”;

1. Find your EHR in the CHPL.
2. Select Add to Cart.
3. If your EHR is certified as a Complete EHR, the CHPL will let you know you have all of the MU criteria covered and you can click on the button labeled “Get CMS EHR Certification ID.”

Last month I announced  that Acumen had successfully completed the 2014 Edition certification process. Among many other things, this now means Acumen has two CMS EHR Certification IDs. Every Acumen user that attests during the first 2 months of January for the work they did in 2013 must use the Acumen version 6.0 Certification ID.

 

The Acumen version 6.0 EHR Certification ID:

30000001T4QWEA0

 

In the months ahead, many of you will use Acumen version 7.0 to capture the 2014 Edition meaningful use objectives. In fact, some of you will brave the waters and select the first quarter of this year as your 2014 reporting period. If you find yourself in this boat, when you attest for 2014 in early April, you will use a different EHR certification ID. That 2014 Edition Acumen Certification ID can also be found on the CHPL under the 2014 Edition group of EHRs.

 

The Acumen version 7.0 EHR Certification ID:

A014E01KIOMFEAN

 

Note for those of you attesting later this year for the 2014 reporting period: you will use the Acumen version 7.0 Certification ID regardless of whether you faced the Stage 1 or the Stage 2 objectives in 2014. During the 2014 attestation process you will need to update the CMS registration page to reflect the fact that you are using an EHR that has been certified to meet the 2014 Edition certification standards.

 

Why does it matter?

 

Based on the number of nephrologists receiving an incentive through the end of November 2013, it is clear the majority of providers in our specialty participated in the meaningful use program last year. If you are in this large group of nephrologists, you must complete your attestation prior to February 28, 2014. Let me repeat that, if you intend to collect a CMS EHR incentive for all of the hard work you and your staff completed last year capturing the data necessary to qualify as a meaningful user, you must make sure you complete the attestation process by the end of February.

 

If you wait until March 1, you will discover the 2013 attestation window has closed. Not only will you lose the opportunity to collect the 2013 incentive, but you may earn yourself a penalty in 2015. And that’s not the way to start the New Year!

 

As you complete your attestations for 2013, make sure you are using the correct EHR Certification ID and, as always, please share your thoughts by leaving a comment.