Certification Flexibility Rule
The Certification Flexibility Rule is effective October 1, 2014. The Rule grants reporting flexibility to providers who are unable to fully implement 2014 Certified Electronic Health Record Technology (CEHRT) for a 2014 reporting period due to a delay in the availability of the 2014 CEHRT. Please see the
Certification Flexibility Rule Overview presentation
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for more detailed information.
The Rule operationalizes the term unable to fully implement as:
- Software development delays
- Missing or delayed software updates
- Being unable to implement 2014 CEHRT for the full reporting period
- Unable to train staff, test the updated system, or put new workflows in place because of delays associated with installation of 2014 CEHRT
- Unable to meet Stage 2 summary of care measures because the recipient of transmittals was impacted by 2014 CEHRT issues
Reasons not recognized in the final rule are:
- Financial issues
- Inability to meet one or more measures
- Staff turnover and changes
- Provider waited too long to engage a vendor
- Refusal to purchase the requisite software updates
- Providers who fully implemented 2014 Edition CEHRT and can report in 2014
The CEHRT technology edition used determines the Meaningful Use Stage and measures and Clinical Quality Measures (CQMs) to be reported.
