Date Range
April, 2011 - September, 2017
Last Updated
The Medicare Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Program provides incentives to eligible clinicians and hospitals to adopt electronic health records. This dataset combines meaningful use attestations from the Medicare EHR Incentive Program and certified health IT product data from the ONC Certified Health IT Product List (CHPL) to identify the unique vendors, products, and product types of each certified health IT product used to attest to meaningful use. The dataset also includes important provider-specific data, related to the provider's participation and status in the program, unique provider identifiers, and other characteristics unique to each provider, like geography and provider type.
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| Data Field | Data Description | Additional Information |
|---|---|---|
| NPI | National Provider Identifier // The national provider identifier (NPI) is issued to every ambulatory and inpatient provider. It is a unique identifier. | All NPIs, both active and deactivated, can be found in the NPPES database. The NPI can be used to match these providers to other health data sets, especially those provided by HHS. |
| CCN | CMS Certified Number // The CCN is a unique identifier for health care facilities certified to participate in federal health care programs. Facilities can include hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, federally qualified health centers, etc. | All CCNs, both active and inactive, can be found in the CMS Provider of Services file. The CCN can be used to match these providers to other health data sets, especially those provided by HHS. |
| Provider_Type | Type of Health Care Provider // This data set includes attestations from two provider groups: eligible professionals (EP) and eligible hospitals (Hospital). | Eligible professionals include medical doctors, doctors of osteopathy, dentists, chiropractors, podiatrists,and optometrists. Eligible hospitals include short-term general hospitals, Critical Access hospitals, and cancer hospitals. |
| Business_State_Territory | U.S. State or Territorial Location of Provider // The location of the practice or hospital in which the provider is located. This data is submitted as part of the provider's attestation. | This location can be compared to the provider's registration in the National Plan and Provider Enumeration System (NPPES), using the National Provider Identifier (NPI) provided in this data. |
| ZIP | ZIP code where hospital or health care professional practice is located. // The ZIP code is a unique geographic identifier that can be used to determine metropolitan status and can be linked to county level codes. | New variable added to November 2016 update. |
| Specialty | Clinical Specialty of Health Care Provider // Clinical specialty data is only provided for eligible professionals (EP). Hospital observations within this data set should not have data for this variable. | Specialty data are gathered from the NPPES database. This data is self-reported by the provider either through NPPES registration. |
| Hospital_Type | Type of hospital. // For hospitals included in the data, a hospital is designated as a General or Critical Access hospital. A Critical Access hospital is a hospital with less than 25 beds and 35 miles away from any other general or Critical Access hospital. A General hospital are all other hospitals. Only General and Critical Access hospitals are eligible to receive incentive payments through the Medicare EHR Incentive Program. | New variable added to November 2016 update. |
| Program_Type | CMS Incentive Program in which Provider is Registered // Registrations will be listed as Medicare or Medicare/Medicaid. | These data include only attestations to the Medicare EHR Incentive Program. Because hospitals may be eligible and participating in both the Medicaid and Medicare programs, some hospitals will have Medicare/Medicaid listed as their registration program because they are participating in both programs. |
| Program_Year | CMS EHR Incentive Program Year in which Provider Attested to Meaningful Use // The Medicare EHR Incentive Program began in 2011. | A provider can only attest once for each reporting period year. If a unique provider is listed more than once under a single reporting period year in this data set, it is more than likely because the provider used more than one unique product to complete meaningul use attestation for that reporting period year. Each line of data represents a unique EHR product and attestation combination. Every product a provider used to complete attestation is listed according to the program year of the attestation. This data set also includes a unique attestation identification number, "Attestation_ID". This can also be used to identify unique attestations for each unique provider. |
| Provider_Stage_Number | Stage of Meaningful Use Attestation // There are three stages over the life of Meaningful Use. Stage 2 began in 2014. Only stage 1 and stage 2 appear in this data set. | In general, professionals and hospitals must attest to at least 2 years of the first stage of meaningful use before progressing to stage 2. The first year that professionals and hospitals could attest to stage 2 meaningful use was 2014; those professionals and hospitals that had completed at least 2 years of stage 1 by 2013 were scheduled to attest to stage 2 in 2014, although they had an option to attest to stage 1 for 2014. There are currently 2 stages of meaningful use to which providers and hospitals may attest. Stage 3 attestations will not start until 2018. |
| Payment_Year | CMS EHR Incentive Program Payment Year for Provider // This variable reflects the number of years since the provider started participation in the meaningful use program, with the first year being counted as 1. | Starting with the first year of attestation, the payment year counts the number of years since the provider first started participating in the meaningful use program. If a number is skipped (i.e. only payment years 1 and 3 are available for a provider), then the provider did not attest to meaningful use in that year. If the first payment year listed for a unique provider is greater than (i.e., 2, 3, or 4), that provider's previous participation was in a state Medicaid EHR Incentive Program. Also, beginning in program year 2015, some provider's payment year is blank. That is because it was the provider's first year participating and is not eligible for an incentive payment. |
| Attestation_Month | Month in which Provider Attested to Meaningful Use of Product // Calendar month in which provider submitted a meaningful use attestation to the Medicare EHR Incentive Program. Combine this variable with the Attestation Year variable to get the date of the provider's attestation. | Eligible professionals' reporting period is within the calendar year; hospitals report on a fiscal year (October-September). The month listed is the month in which the provider or hospital submitted the attestation, not the month in which the provider's reporting period ended or began. Meaningful use attestations cannot occur sooner than after the first 90 days of their reporting period, and should be no later than 60 days following the end of the reporting year except when otherwise permitted by CMS. |
| Attestation_Year | Year in which Provider Attested to Meaningful Use of Product // Calendar year in which provider submitted a meaningful use attestation to the Medicare EHR Incentive Program. Combine this variable with the Attestation Month variable to get the date of the provider's attestation. | Eligible professionals reporting period corresponds to the calendar year; hospitals' reporting period corresponds to the federal fiscal year (October-September). Meaningful use attestations cannot occur sooner than after the first 90 days of their reporting period, and should be no later than 60 days following the end of the reporting period year except when otherwise permitted by CMS. |
| MU_Definition_2014 | Meaningful Use Definition of EHR Product for Program Year 2014 // There are three definintions of stage 1 of meaningful use: 2011, 2013 and 2014. There is one definition of stage 2 of meaningful use: 2014. | In 2014, EPs and EHs were able to attest to either the 2013 or 2014 definition of stage 1 of meaningful use, or the 2014 definition of stage 2. |
| Stage_2_Scheduled_2014 | Provider's Scheduled Meaningful Use Stage 2 Status for Program Year 2014 // The provider is either scheduled for stage 2 of meaningful use in 2014 (1), or the provider is not scheduled (0). | This field indicates whether the eligible professional or hospital was scheduled to attest to stage 2 in 2014, that is, that the EP or EH had completed at least 2 years of stage 1 of meaningful use. Due to the CMS 2014 CEHRT Flexibility Rule, EPs and EHs were granted flexibility in which stage of meaningful use they could attest to in 2014. |
| EHR_Certification_Number | Electronic Health Record (EHR) Certification Number // Unique identification number associated with different combinations of EHR products. | The unique number is associated with a unique vendor, but could be associated with more than one product sold by that vendor. Each attestation is associated with a unique certification number. This is an unique identifier used by CMS. See the CMS' EHR Incentive Program site for more information. |
| EHR_Product_CHP_Id | Electronic Health Record (EHR) Product Certified Health IT Product List (CHPL) Identification Number // The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) Certification Program issues an unique identification number for each health product certified by the program. | The Certified Health IT Product List (CHPL) is used to match the CHPL ID to the EHR Certification Number used for attestation. The CHPL IDs used in this data set are those listed in the CHPL data. |
| Vendor_Name | Electronic Health Record (EHR) Vendor Name // Company name of the EHR vendor who developed the product certified for meaningful use attestation. | The Certified Health IT Product List (CHPL) is used to match the vendor name to the EHR Certification Number used for attestation. The vendor names used in this data set are those listed in the CHPL data. |
| EHR_Product_Name | Electronic Health Record (EHR) Product Name // Unique name of EHR product used for meaningful use attestation. | Each product certified by ONC is given a unique name. Each unique product, however, may have more than one version. The Certified Health IT Product List (CHPL) is used to match the product name to the EHR Certification Number used for attestation. The product names used in this data set are those listed in the CHPL data. |
| EHR_Product_Version | Electronic Health Record (EHR) Product Version // Unique version number of a certified product. | Each certified product may have more than one version. If so, the EHR product is classified separately from its siblings with a unique version identifier. Each product version is issued a unique CHPL Identification Number. The Certified Health IT Product List (CHPL) is used to match the version number to the EHR Certification Number used for attestation. The version numbers used in this data set are those listed in the CHPL data. |
| Product_Classification | Electronic Health Record (EHR) Product Classification // An EHR product can have two possible classifications: complete or modular. Complete products meet all the meaningful use requirements for the practice setting and certification edition for which the product was certified. Modular products meet one or more, but not all of the MU requirements for the practice setting and certification ediction for which the product was certified. | The Certified Health IT Product List (CHPL) is used to match the product classification to the EHR Certification Number used for attestation. The product classifications used in this data set are those listed in the CHPL data. |
| Product_Setting | Electronic Health Record (EHR) Product Setting // An EHR product can be certified for two distinct practice settings: ambulatory care settings (doctor's offices, clinics, etc.) and inpatient care settings (hospitals, long-term care facilities, etc.). | The Certified Health IT Product List (CHPL) is used to match the product setting to the EHR Certification Number used for attestation. The product settings used in this data set are those listed in the CHPL data. |
| Product_Certification_Edition_Yr | Electronic Health Record (EHR) Product Certification Edition Year // An EHR product can be certified under two distinct editions: 2011 certification edition and 2014 certification edition. | The 2011 certification edition was the first certification criteria used for EHR products to be used to demonstrate meaningful use through the Medicare EHR Incentive Program. Ambulatory and inpatient providers were allowed to use 2011 certification edition EHRs to attest to stage 1 of meaningful use in program years 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014. The 2014 certification edition is the second and latest certification criteria used for EHR products to be used to demonstrate meaningful use through the Medicare EHR Incentive Program. The first year providers could attest using 2014 certified products was in 2014; proivders attesting to stage 2 of meaningful use had to use 2014 certified products. The Certified Health IT Product List (CHPL) is used to match the certification edition year to the EHR Certification Number used for attestation. The certification edition years used in this data set are those listed in the CHPL data. |
| Attestation_ID | Unique Identification Number for each Meaningful Use Attestation // This variable has been discontinued. You can use the provider unique identifiers, NPI for EPs and CCN for hospitals, to identify unique providers and the program years for each unique provider to track attestations for each provider. | One unique attestation may comprise more than one line of data in this data set. Because providers may attest using more than one EHR product, a single attestation may require more than one line of data in this data set. Each line of data represents a unique product used by a unique provider for a single attestation in a single program year. |
This dataset merges attestation data from the Medicare EHR Incentive Program with certified EHR product information from ONC's Certified Health IT Product List (CHPL). The Medicare EHR Incentive Program provides incentive payments to eligible providers as they adopt, implement, upgrade, or demonstrate meaningful use of certified EHR technology. The CHPL provides the authoritative, comprehensive listing of certified health IT products that have been tested under the ONC Certification Program. Because the collection and preparation of this data takes considerable time and effort, there is a lag of about two months between the date of publication and the content presented within it. Note that the data may fluctuate on a month-to-month basis as records are validated and the data updated. The complete dataset exceeds 1 million rows of data, so, if loaded in Excel software, any data beyond a million rows will be deprecated. A statistical or other software that can load a file of this size is recommended to analyze the complete dataset. The data, however, are also provided separately for program years of the EHR Incentive Program (2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016).