Physician Data Analytics – Impact of 2015 Regulatory Changes

Last month, I commented on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) (05/20/2014) as it related to the CMS electronic health record (EHR) meaningful use (MU) incentive program. This NPRM has now gone into effect and can impact the way you implement your EHR and how you collect data for analytics.



Regulatory and MU Changes for 2015
Beginning in 2015, all eligible professionals and hospitals will be faced with the following MU and regulatory changes:
• Must use 2014 Edition CEHRT to participate in the CMS MU incentive program;
• MU reporting period will cover a full calendar year (instead of 90 days as in 2014);
• ICD-10 codes will come into effect on October 1, 2015.

Impact on Physician Practice
In order to meet all the regulatory requirements in 2015, a practice must:
• Have the 2014 CERHT software installed, tested and ready to go by December of 2014;
• Convert to the new 2014 CEHRT software on Jan. 1, 2015;
• Have 2014 CERHT that is able to support both MU Stage 1 and MU Stage 2 criteria;
• Have software that supports ICD-9 coding for 9 months and then ICD-10 coding for the last 3 months of 2015;
• Have software that is able to report on all MU Stage 1 and 2 measures for a full 12 months, while supporting the ICD coding and related documentation changes noted above;
• Be able to modify its internal workflow to effectively deal with these regulatory, coding and operational changes.

Benefits of Continuing and/or Starting a Data Analytics Program for Your Practice
The benefits of a data analytics program is to improve the overall quality of care and efficiency of your practice group, i.e. to allow your practice group to see more patients over time, improve the overall outcome of these patients, and to improve the efficiency and bottom line of your practice.

With all of these regulatory changes coming in 2015, I would highly recommend you obtain the services of an outside expert who is knowledgeable in these areas and can truly help you navigate through the “stormy waters of 2015.” The year 2015 is going to be a “rough trip!”

The North Texas Regional Extension Center (NTREC) has services to help you implement an EHR. For a preview of our services, check out this video.