U.S. healthcare providers saved from the EHR bell.

• Position: HEALTH RECORDS - Electronic health records

In late August, the Office of the National Coordinator for .Health Information Technology published the final certification criteria for Stage 2 of the "meaningful use" incentive program, giving hospitals and healthcare providers a year's extension on the deadline for having electronic health records (EHR) in place to qualify for government incentives.

In Stage 2, which will now begin in 2014, hospitals, physicians, and other "eligible providers" are expected to increase interoperability of health information, adopt more standardized data formats, and generally increase their EHR systems' capabilities from Stage 1. This is a year later than the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act's (ARRA) original deadline.

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ARRA authorizes bonus payments from Medicare and/or Medicaid to providers that use certified EHRs. Providers can start earning Stage 1 incentive payments as late as 2017. However, Medicare will impose penalties if meaningful use criteria are not being met by 2015.

The Stage 2 reporting period has also been reduced to three months instead of the standard 12 months. This will allow providers attesting to Stage 1 or Stage 2 time to implement or upgrade their newly certified EHR technology. The reduced reporting period also will give providers time to meet Stage 2...