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Thursday, August 6, 2015 1:22 PM

Patient Engagement: NPRM Changes to Core 6.2

Written by Kay Jackson, Education and Advisory Manager, Iatric Systems

NPRM Changes to Core 6.2 Patient Engagement Staying Focused On Patient Engagement Despite Proposed NPRM Changes for 6.2

With the proposed changes for Meaningful Use Stage 2, I’m often asked for advice. One piece of advice that I offer has people stopping in their tracks. Despite the “relief” on patient engagement requirements being offered with the proposed changes for Core 6.2, I say to our customers over and over again: “Ignore the change to Core 6.2 and keep going with your current patient engagement plans!”

Let me be clear - if the 2015-2017 Stage 2 NPRM stays as written for Core 6.2, my suggestion is to continue to work toward goals of patient engagement, and don’t lose steam. “Why? What’s the point?” you may be asking. 

The answer is simple: your portal can provide valuable clinical and financial information for your patients, so I implore you — please don’t put your portal on a shelf! If Stage 3 remains as proposed, you will be facing a View, Download, and Transmit requirement to more than 25%! This is true for all eligible providers, eligible hospitals, and critical access hospitals. 

Beyond 6.2, other measures in Stage 3 will also focus on the use of the patient portal. What we know now is that patient engagement is so much more than a Meaningful Use score — it is a key to patient satisfaction, patient quality, and will help hospitals prepare for the move to fee-for-value model. Patient engagement drives improved communication between patients and providers. If you abandon your efforts now, and plan to “just deal with patient engagement when Stage 3 rolls around,” your patients will experience a three-year hiatus on the effort and work you’ve done to create better patient communication and satisfaction.

No matter what CMS proposes or passes in regard to Stage 2 and Core 6.2, our patients deserve, require, and have come to expect improved communication and access to their information. In order to become the provider of choice, you must continue your focus on improved patient engagement. Look beyond MU and focus on how your portal can improve communication.

If you’d like to learn more about the proposed CMS changes to Meaningful Use Stage 2 and help plan for Stage 3, listen to this recorded webcast:

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According to online reviews, this session was considered one of the top educational sessions from the 2015 International MUSE conference.