This past Thursday, February 23, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a proposed rule for the Stage 2 requirements to qualify for the Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Records Incentive Payments that were part of the 2009 federal stimulus act. If you want to read the proposed rule, you can find it on the website maintained by The Office of the Federal Register. However, be warned–the proposed rule is 455 pages long. The new proposed rule establishes Stage 2 requirements, and it makes some changes to the Stage 1 requirements. In addition, the proposed rule includes a proposed extension of Stage 1, which would delay the onset of Stage 2 criteria from 2013 until 2014.
