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There is one task that must be completed not later than December 31st, 2014 in order to be successful for the 2015 Meaningful Use reporting period.  For everyone who is attesting for their second year of Meaningful Use and beyond, next year is currently scheduled to be a full year.

Although most of the measures can be implemented after the start of the New Year, there is one exception.  Core measure 06 - Clinical Decision Support (CDS) states that for Stage 2 you must implement five clinical decision support interventions related to four or more clinical quality measures at a relevant point in patient care for the entire EHR reporting period.  Without these four clinical quality measures which relate to an EP’s scope of practice or patient population, the clinical decision support interventions must be related to high-priority health conditions. 

CDS interventions are not required to be related to the same clinical quality measures that an Eligible Provider has chosen to report.  While there is no formal definition of this relationship, in general, the CDS intervention should be aimed at prospectively advancing the same clinical goal or guideline promoted by the clinical quality measure.

If the provider is in Stage 1 in 2015, you need to have one rule in place for each provider.  If the provider will be reporting Stage 2, you need to make sure that you have selected 5 Clinical Decision Support Rules and have these activated prior to January 1st.  These rules can be changed during the year.  If you are unsure of how to set these up in your EHR, please check with your vendor.   

For more information on this subject please use the following links from CMS:

• http://www.healthit.gov/sites/default/files/clinicaldecisionsupport_tipsheet.pdf
• http://www.cms.gov/Regulations-and-Guidance/Legislation/EHRIncentivePrograms/Downloads/ClinicalDecisionSupport_Tipsheet-.pdf

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