EHR Meaningful Use & MIPS Requirements 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which organization certifies EHR technology as meeting Meaningful Use and MIPS standards?
- CMS
- ONC (Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT) (Correct answer)
- AMA
- Joint Commission
Correct answer: ONC (Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT)
The ONC oversees the Health IT Certification Program, which certifies EHR technology as meeting the technical standards required for Meaningful Use and MIPS.
Question 2: Under MIPS, what happens to a clinician's Medicare Part B payments if they do not submit any MIPS data?
- No adjustment is made
- They receive the maximum negative adjustment (Correct answer)
- They are excluded from MIPS automatically
- Their payments are delayed by 6 months
Correct answer: They receive the maximum negative adjustment
Clinicians who fail to submit any MIPS data receive the maximum negative payment adjustment allowed under the program.
Question 3: Which Meaningful Use objective requires providers to record and chart patient vital signs in the EHR?
- Computerized Provider Order Entry (CPOE)
- Vital Signs Recording (Correct answer)
- Clinical Decision Support
- Patient Demographics
Correct answer: Vital Signs Recording
The Vital Signs Recording objective requires eligible providers to record height, weight, blood pressure, BMI, and growth charts in the EHR for applicable patients.
Question 4: What is the difference between a 'Qualifying APM Participant' (QP) and a 'Partial QP' under the Quality Payment Program?
- QPs are excluded from all QPP requirements; Partial QPs must still report MIPS data
- QPs receive the APM incentive and are excluded from MIPS; Partial QPs may choose between MIPS and APM reporting (Correct answer)
- QPs participate in MIPS only; Partial QPs participate in APMs only
- There is no functional difference between the two designations
Correct answer: QPs receive the APM incentive and are excluded from MIPS; Partial QPs may choose between MIPS and APM reporting
QPs meet the full threshold for APM participation and receive the APM incentive payment while being excluded from MIPS, whereas Partial QPs can elect to report through MIPS or be excluded.
Question 5: Which of the following best describes a 'clinical quality measure' (CQM) in the context of Meaningful Use?
- A measure of EHR system uptime and reliability
- A standardized tool for measuring patient health outcomes, patient experience, and care processes (Correct answer)
- A benchmark for the number of electronic prescriptions sent
- A metric for evaluating staff productivity
Correct answer: A standardized tool for measuring patient health outcomes, patient experience, and care processes
CQMs are standardized tools used to measure and track the quality of healthcare provided, including outcomes, processes, patient experience, and safety.
Question 6: Under Stage 3 Meaningful Use, what is required for the Clinical Decision Support (CDS) objective?
- Implement at least one CDS intervention
- Implement five CDS interventions with drug interaction checking enabled (Correct answer)
- Enable CDS for all diagnoses in the EHR
- Use CDS alerts for at least 50% of patient encounters
Correct answer: Implement five CDS interventions with drug interaction checking enabled
Stage 3 requires implementing at least five CDS interventions related to four or more clinical quality measures, with drug-drug and drug-allergy interaction checks enabled.
Question 7: What is a 'MIPS Value Pathway' (MVP)?
- A fast-track route for clinicians to qualify as Advanced APM participants
- A subset of MIPS measures and activities relevant to a specific specialty or condition (Correct answer)
- A payment model replacing traditional MIPS scoring
- An administrative tool for submitting claims data to CMS
Correct answer: A subset of MIPS measures and activities relevant to a specific specialty or condition
MVPs are focused subsets of measures and activities from across MIPS performance categories, designed to be more meaningful and relevant to a particular specialty, care setting, or patient population.
EHR Meaningful Use & MIPS Requirements 4
Which organization certifies EHR technology as meeting Meaningful Use and MIPS standards?