CMS has launched a new attestation resource for the Medicare electronic health record (EHR) incentive program

All eligible professionals (EPs), eligible hospitals, and critical access hospitals (CAHs) participating in the Medicare EHR incentive program must attest to having met meaningful use requirements in order to receive their EHR incentive payments. The Meaningful Use Attestation Calculator helps Medicare EPs, eligible hospitals, and CAHs determine if they have met all of the objectives and their associated measures for meaningful use prior to completing attestation for the Medicare EHR incentive program. It is important to note that the tool does not calculate clinical quality measures (CQMs). These measures are reported directly from a certified EHR and will need to be entered in the Web-based attestation system in order to receive an incentive payment. This calculator is not the same as the actual attestation; rather it is a tool that allows Medicare EPs to assess their readiness to successfully complete the attestation process. The Meaningful Use Attestation Calculator will help prepare EPs, eligible hospitals, and CAHs for the attestation system. After entering their core and menu measure meaningful use data, the calculator will display whether a provider has met the necessary criteria for these objectives. The user can then print a copy of the measures they have entered and whether they have passed or failed each specific measure. The calculator will indicate in red those measures for which the input values did not meet the required thresholds and will mark them as “failed.”