CMS Pushes Hospital MU Attestation Deadline Back One Month

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has extended the deadline for hospitals to attest to meaningful use for the 2014 reporting year back one month, from Nov. 30 to Dec. 31.

The extension applies to eligible hospitals (EHs) and critical access hospitals (CAHs) for the Medicare Electronic Health Record Incentive Program 2014 reporting year. The extension does not impact the deadlines for the Medicaid EHR Incentive Program.

In an announcement, the federal agency says that “the 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.

As of Nov. 1, only 840 hospitals have attested to meaningful use Stage 2 within the 2014 calendar timeframe, out of the 2,300-plus hospitals that had attested to Stage 1; and 11,478 physicians have attested to Stage 2 within the 2014 calendar timeframe.

This extension provides some more time for provider organizations, but likely will not appease certain industry associations that have called for more significant action from the federal government, specifically requesting a shortened, 90-day reporting period rather than  the current 365-day reporting period for 2015.