CMS Offers Guidance on How Hospitals Should Include Emergency Department Patients in Meaningful Use Measures

Fom Becker’s Hospital Review:

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid has posted guidance offering clarity on how hospitals should include emergency department patients in their measures associated with stage one of meaningful use of electronic health records, according to an update by CMS.

The new guidelines clarify which emergency department patients should be included in the denominators of measures for the EHR incentive program. The denominator will include patients admitted to the inpatient setting through the emergency department and patients who are treated in the emergency department’s observation unit or who otherwise receive observation services.