Question: While the denominator for measures used to calculate meaningful use is restricted to patients seen during the EHR reporting period, is the numerator also restricted to activity during the EHR reporting period or can actions for certain meaningful use measures be counted in the numerator if they took place after the EHR reporting period has ended?
Answer FAQ #8231: The criteria for a numerator is not constrained to the EHR reporting period unless expressly stated in the numerator statement for a given meaningful use measure. The numerator for the following meaningful use measures should include only actions that take place within the EHR reporting period: Preventive Care (Patient Reminders) and Secure Electronic Messaging. Read the full answer here.
Question: When providing the clinical summary as part of an office visit to meet the measure “Clinical summaries provided to patients or patient-authorized representatives within 1 business day for more than 50 percent of office visits” (§ 495.6(j)(11)(ii)), can a provider determine whether to include information that was not changed or addressed during the visit?
Answer FAQ #8237: Yes. Most of the elements listed in the regulation have text associated with them that are meant to provide additional context such as “for or of the office visit,” “current,” “pending,” “during the visit,” “if applicable to the visit,” “recent” and “future.” Some elements listed do not have these qualifiers because we believed the context was implicit. Read the full answer here.
Question: When creating a clinical summary as part of an office visit to meet the measure “Clinical summaries provided to patients or patient-authorized representatives within 1 business day for more than 50 percent of office visits” (§ 495.6(j)(11)(ii)), do all of the information elements specified by CMS for a clinical summary need to be individually listed?
Answer FAQ #8239: No. The Stage 2 final rule did not include any requirements on the design of the clinical summary. For example, the information about future appointments, provider referrals, scheduled tests, and clinical instructions could be included in a section of the summary called “Next steps.” If all of these information elements were empty, then “next steps” could just be “none” and all the information elements that feed this section would be covered. Read the full answer here.
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