As of December 1st, CMS has paid more than $25.7 billion in meaningful use payments to eligible hospitals and professionals, according to the latest CMS data. Elisabeth Myers, head of CMS’ Office of eHealth Standards and Services made announcement on Tuesday during a Health IT policy Committee meeting.
MU Registation and Payment Data
CMS data reported 505,641 active participants in the meaningful use incentive program through October 2014 broken down by:
| October-14 | Program To Date | |
| Medicare Eligible Professional | 2510 | 335,964 |
| Medicaid Eligible Professionals | 1845 | 164,912 |
| Hospitals | 18 | 4,765 |
| Totals | 4,373 | 505,641 |
2014 MU Attestation Data
2014 MU attestions through December 1, 2014 include:
– 60561 EP successfully attested for 2014
– 17046 new participants
– 16455 Attested to Stage 2
– 3696 Hospitals successfully attested for 2014
– 292 New participants
– 1681 Attested to Stage 2
CHIME Response to MU Stage 2 Challenges
In a response to the latest CMS data, College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) President and CEO Russell Branzell released a statement addressing how the low meaningful use stage 2 numbers validate the need for a shortened reporting period in 2015.
“Despite policy efforts to mitigate a disastrous program year, today’s release of participation data confirms widespread challenges with Stage 2 Meaningful Use,” said CHIME President and CEO Russell P. Branzell, FCHIME, CHCIO. “This trend demonstrates how vital new flexibilities were in 2014 and again, underscores the need for the same flexibility in 2015,” said Branzell. “It is imperative officials take immediate action to put this critical transformation program back on track. Shortening the time frame for MU reporting in 2015 will help to ensure the program delivers on its promise to advance the transformation of healthcare in this country.”
As of December 1st, less than 35 percent of the nation’s hospitals have met Stage 2 Meaningful Use requirements.Roughly 1 in 3 hospitals scheduled to meet Stage 2 in 2014 had to use alternative pathways to meet MU, administrative data current through December 1 indicate. Only 4 percent of eligible professionals (EPs) have meet Stage 2 requirements and have until the end of February 2015 to report their progress.
