Farzad Mostashari, the national coordinator for health information technology with the ONC, and Marilyn Tavenner, the acting administrator of CMS urge States and HIT partners to collaborate for higher adoption and use of health IT, according to a CMS Blog report.

CMS has announced data totals from February 2012 on payments and participation for eligible hospitals, eligible professionals and critical access hospitals under the Medicare and Medicaid electronic health record incentive programs.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Bundled Payments for Care Improvement (BCPI) initiative has generally been more attractive to providers than either of its two accountable care programs — the Medicare Shared Savings and Pioneer ACO program. Unlike those programs, the BCPI program is typically considered more manageable as it allows providers to choose specific service lines or diagnosis-related groups where quality and cost improvement opportunities exist.

CMS has announced a conference call on March 12 to discuss the proposed Stage 2 rule for meaningful use of electronic health record incentives, according to an AHA report.

On February 16, 2012, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services issued a long-awaited proposed rule to establish regulations regarding the reporting and returning of overpayments to the Medicare program (77 Fed. Reg. 9,179 (Feb. 16, 2012)). The proposed regulations at 42 C.F.R. Part 401, subpart D would implement § 6402(a) of the Affordable Care Act (Public Law 111-148), in part, by outlining the disclosure and repayment policies and procedures applicable to Medicare Part A and Part B providers and suppliers. While the proposed regulations apply only to this subset of providers and suppliers at this time, CMS notes in the preamble of the proposed rule that the statutory requirements of § 1128J(d) of the Social Security Act (regarding the obligation to report and return overpayments) continue to apply to all stakeholders despite the absence of established regulations.

CMS has released the proposed rule for Stage 2 requirements for the Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Record Incentive Programs. The Stage 2 rule includes criteria eligible professionals, eligible hospitals and critical access hospitals must meet in order to qualify for an incentive payment. The rule also introduces changes to the program timeline and details payment adjustments.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services have delayed Stage 2 of meaningful use of electronic health records one year until Oct. 1, 2013, according to an AHA report.

CMS is reminding providers of the Version 5010 standard that will be enforced beginning April 1, according to an AAPC report.

Marilyn Tavenner, acting CMS administrator, told a conference of the American Medical Association today that CMS may "re-examine the pace at which we implement ICD-10," according to a report from The Hill.

Here is a list of the top 50 hospitals with the highest percentage of patients who rated their hospital 9 or 10 out of a 0 (worst) to 10 (best) scale. The data is based on the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems survey, which allows patients to rate line items relating to their patient care experience.