Implementation of Medicare Programs; - Medicare Promoting Interoperability Program (CMS-10552)

Abstract (2000 characters maximum) The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) (Pub. L. 111-5) was enacted on February 17, 2009, and includes measures to modernize our nation's infrastructure and improve affordable health care. Expanded use of health information technology (HIT) and certified electronic health record (EHR) technology will improve the quality and value of America's health care. Title IV of Division B of the Recovery Act amends Titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act (the Act) by establishing incentive payments to eligible professionals, eligible hospitals and critical access hospitals (CAHs), and Medicare Advantage organizations participating in the Medicare and Medicaid programs that adopt and successfully demonstrate meaningful use of certified EHR technology (CEHRT). These Recovery Act provisions, together with Title XIII of Division A of the Recovery Act, may be cited as the “Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act” or the “HITECH Act”. In 2019, the EHR Incentives Program for eligible hospitals and CAHs was subsequently renamed the Medicare Promoting Interoperability Program. We are collecting information from participants in this program on objectives and measures focused on the meaningful use of CEHRT in order to incentivize the advanced use of CEHRT to support health information exchange, interoperability, advanced quality measurement, and maximizing clinical effectiveness and efficiency. In the FY 2026 IPPS/LTCH PPS proposed rule, we proposed to adopt a new optional bonus measure under the Public Health and Clinical Data Exchange objective for health information exchange with a public health agency (PHA) that occurs using TEFCA, and where the eligible hospital or CAH meets certain additional requirements, beginning with the EHR reporting period in CY 2026. We also proposed to modify two measures: (1) the SAFER Guides measure, which we proposed to modify by requiring eligible hospitals and CAHs to attest “yes” to completing an annual self-assessment using the SAFER Guides published in January 2025 beginning with the EHR reporting period in CY 2026; and (2) the Security Risk Analysis measure, which we proposed to modify to require eligible hospitals and CAHs to attest “yes” to having conducted security risk management as required under the HIPAA Security Rule beginning with the EHR reporting period in CY 2026. We also proposed to define the EHR reporting period in CY 2026 and subsequent years as a minimum of any continuous 180-day period within that CY for eligible hospitals and CAHs participating in the Medicare Promoting Interoperability Program.

The latest form for Implementation of Medicare Programs; - Medicare Promoting Interoperability Program (CMS-10552) expires 2029-03-31 and can be found here.