Meaningful Use Attestation Guides - CMS recently published new guides for the Meaningful Use attestation process.  The two pdf documents (one for hospitals and one for eligible professionals) show the entire attestation process, screen by screen. This means you can get a preview of the data you need for Meaningful Use attestation prior to registering. The guides also explain the values needed and the rules for exclusions, where exclusions are allowed.

Click here to find the guides. Then, scroll down to the section entitled, “Do you have questions about attestation?” and click the link titled, “Where can I find user guides and other resources?” The link jumps to the resources section, where the first two items are the Attestation User Guides.

Direct links to the guides are below – but CMS changes these links from time to time.

For Hospitals, click here.

For Eligible Professionals, click here.

EHR Certification Number - The guides also illustrate entering your facility’s EHR Certification Number. This is a unique 15 character ID that is generated by the ONC CHPL Site (Office of the National Coordinator – Certified HIT Product List) for your combination of certified EHR technologies. You will need to get this number prior to attestation. This number is different than the certification number on the seal provided to your vendor(s) by the certifying bodies.  

To obtain an EHR Certification Number, click here to access the ONC CHPL web site.

Search for and select each of the certified products you are using for Meaningful Use and add them to your “cart.” 

Note that the website has two groups of certified technologies for searching – Ambulatory and Inpatient (see the buttons at the bottom of the screen). HealthPort’s eSmartLog* application is certified and listed for both inpatient and ambulatory (this is important, to allow every customer to generate an EHR Certification Number).

When you have selected a set of technologies which covers ALL of the Meaningful Use requirements, the web site will allow you to generate an EHR Certification Number.  This 15 digit value is what you need for the attestation process.

*This EHR Module is 2011/2012 compliant and has been certified by Drummond Group, an ONC-ATCB approved to certify any complete or modular EHR both ambulatory and inpatient, in accordance with the applicable certification criteria adopted by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. This certification does not represent an endorsement by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services or guarantee the receipt of incentive payments. HealthPort eSmartlog, 08/11/2011, Version 1.1, 08112011‐1318‐8 (inpatient), 08112011‐1317‐8 (ambulatory), 7zip.