Last week HHS released its final rule on Stage 2 of Meaningful Use. We are currently reviewing the rule now, but wanted to share the final rule itself as well as the corresponding CMS fact sheet. You may recall that we submitted comments on the Stage 2 proposed rule. As part of the review process, we will gauge how CMS responded to these comments. We’ll be sure to update you on the impact on health centers once we’ve had a chance to thoroughly review the rule.
In addition to the Stage 2 final rule, CMS also released a final rule on a new HIPAA standard which creates a standard for a national unique health plan identifier (HPID) and a data element that will serve as an “other entity” identifier (OEID). Noteworthy in this final rule is the delay of the ICD-10 standards for one year which were scheduled to go into effect in 2013, but have now been delayed until October 1, 2014. We are also currently reviewing this final rule and will have more information on the impact on health centers shortly.
Stay tuned for more information on both of these important rules.