What are the requirements for MU Stage 1?

CMS has established objectives that all providers must meet to demonstrate you are using your EHR in a way that can positively affect the care of your patients. Some of the objectives have a minimum percentage that you have to meet, others specify an action that must be taken or a functionality of the EHR that must be enabled. For each Meaningful Use stage, you are required to meet the specified core objectives, and a pre-determined number of the menu objectives.

To meet the requirements for Meaningful Use Stage 1, you must fulfill all of the required 13 Core Objectives, along with 5 of the available Menu Objectives.

All eligible professionals, no matter what stage you are in, must meet 9 clinical quality measures (CQMs) to meet MU requirements. Learn more about clinical quality measures.

Meaningful Use Stage 1 Core Objectives
Core Objective 1: CPOE
Measurement Threshold: > 30% of all unique patients with a medication in their medication list have at least one order entry using CPOE
Core Objective 2: Drug-drug and Drug-allergy checks
Measurement Threshold: Enable Drug-drug and Drug-allergy interaction checks for the entire reporting period
Core Objective 3: Maintain Problem List
Measurement Threshold: > 80% of all unique patients have at least one entry or indication of no known problems
Core Objective 4: eRx
Measurement Threshold: > 40% of all permissible prescriptions are transmitted electronically
Core Objective 5: Maintain Medication List
Measurement Threshold: > 80% of all unique patients have at least one entry or indication of no medication
Core Objective 6: Maintain Medication Allergy List
Measurement Threshold: > 80% of all unique patients have at least one entry or indication of no known medication allergies
Core Objective 7: Record Demographics
Measurement Threshold: > 50% of all unique patients have preffered language, gender, race, ethnicity and date of birth recorded
Core Objective 8: Vital Signs
Measurement Threshold: > 50% of all unique patients have height and weight recorded, patients ≥ 3 years old also need blood pressure recorded
Core Objective 9: Smoking Status
Measurement Threshold: > 50% of unique patients (> 13 years old) have smoking status recorded
Core Objective 10: Clinical Decision Support
Measurement Threshold: Implement 1 CDS rule and have it enabled for the entire reporting period
Core Objective 11: Patient Electronic Access
Measurement Threshold: > 50% of patients have access to clinical data within 4 business days
Core Objective 12: Clinical Summaries
Measurement Threshold: >50% of office visits patients receive a clinical summary within 3 business days
Core Objective 13: Protect Health Information
Measurement Threshold: Conduct or review security risk analysis

Stage 1 is easy with the right MU-certified EHR

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What are the Requirements for Meaningful Use Stage 1 and 2?

Stage 1

Eligible Professionals

  • 13 core objectives
  • 5 menu objectives
  • 18 total objectives
  • +9 CQMs

Stage 2

Eligible Professionals

  • 17 core objectives
  • 3 menu objectives
  • 20 total objectives
  • +9 CQMs
MU Stage 1 Required Menu Objectives (must select 5)
Menu Objective 1: Submit data to immunization registry (Public Health Measure)
Measurement Threshold: One-time test to submit electronic data to immunization registries and follow-up submission if test is successful
Menu Objective 2: Submit syndromic surveillance data to public health registry (Public Health Measure
Measurement Threshold: One-time test to submit electronic data to public health agencies and follow-up submission if test is successful
Menu Objective 3: Drug Formulary Check
Measurement Threshold: Enabled functionality and access to at least one internal or external formulary for entire reporting period
Menu Objective 4: Clinical Lab-test Results
Measurement Threshold:> 40% of all clinical lab test results are recorded as structured data
Menu Objective 5: List of Patients by Specific Conditions
Measurement Threshold: Generate at least one report listing patients with a specific condition
Menu Objective 6: Send Patient Reminders
Measurement Threshold: > 20% of patients < 5 years old or > 65 years old are sent a reminder
Menu Objective 7: Patient Education Resources
Measurement Threshold: > 10% of patients with office visits are provided patient specific education resources
Menu Objective 8: Medication Reconciliation
Measurement Threshold:> 50% of transitions in care must have medication reconciliation
Menu Objective 9: Transition of Care Records
Measurement Threshold:Provide a summary of care for > 50% of transitions of care and referrals

Note 1: You must complete one public health requirement (objective #1 or #2 above)

What is the reporting timeline for MU Stage 1?

During Stage 1, if you are a Medicare eligible professional, you must meet these requirements over a 90-day period for the first year, and for the next entire year thereafter.

If you are a Medicaid eligible professional, you only need to adopt, upgrade, or implement a certified EHR in your first year, complete a 90-day reporting period in year 2, and report for the entire next year thereafter.