Experts Caution About Stage 2 Meaningful Use Penalties

The difficulty between what it takes to achieve Stage 1 and Stage 2 is so great, it could easily catch some providers off guard, says Laura Kreofsky, principal advisor at Naperville, Ill.-based Impact Advisors, who specializes in meaningful use. There could be a fair amount of hospitals and eligible providers that will fall short of achieving meaningful use Stage 2, she warns.

“Stage 1 is tough but not too tough. Stages 2 and 3 are darn tough,” Kreofsky says. By making Stage 1 so much easier than Stage 2, in some ways, CMS has set a false sense of security for providers.

Most organizations that are concerned about penalties are those driving toward their first year of meaningful use. However, providers have to be demonstrating well in advance of 2015 to avoid penalties. After the first year of MU, some organizations could receive incentives for the current year but be penalized for a previous year. “There are some weird scenarios here,” Kreofsky explains.