EHR Self-Attestation Using SAFER Guides
Hospitals are now required to attest to the SAFER Guides. EisnerAmper’s team works with health systems to turn attestation compliance into a patient safety advantage.
Starting in 2022, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) requires all hospitals to complete an annual attestation that they have assessed their compliance with the checklist of 165 recommended practices in the SAFER (Safety Assurance Factors for EHR Resilience) Guides. The final rule includes the self-attestation of the SAFER Guides measures under the Medicare Promoting Interoperability Program, which covers certain meaningful use measures with downward payment adjustments.
New in 2024, penalties of downward payment adjustments for Medicare revenue have been added for organizations that fail to complete their self-assessments.
To simplify the attestation process for our clients, we leverage EisnerAmper’s SAFER Guides Knowledge Platform, an automated solution that captures recommended practices implementation status and identifies leading practice controls that promote the safe use of EHRs. This platform supports automated workflows to assess, document, and demonstrate an organization’s compliance with the SAFER Guide’s recommended practices.
Leveraging our experienced team and automated platform enables your organization to stay both compliant and productive, while most importantly, creating a safer digital provider/patient care experience.
SAFER Guides Knowledge Platform Features
- Access to Library of Leading Practice Controls
- Automated Workflows to Assess, Document and Demonstrate Compliance
- Easily Track Assessment Status and Safety Practice Implementation
- Find Clarity with Scorecards and Automated Reporting
- Leverage Heatmaps and Visual Reports to Benchmark Your Performance
To meet the objective of the SAFER Guides, the following functions and features can reduce the burden of completing the assessments as the CMS intends:
Is your organization ready to attest to the SAFER Guides?
| Enabling the CMS SAFER Guides Assessments | EHR Vendor | SAFER Guides Knowledge Platform |
|---|---|---|
| Basic direction and guidance | ||
| Documentation up-to-date with latest regulations | ||
| Knowledge sharing facilitation within and across organizations | ||
| Full support through your SAFER Guides assessment | ||
| Custom-built platform for streamlined assessment completion | ||
| Multidisciplinary stakeholder role assignment and assessment views | ||
| Access to library of 400+ controls for safety optimization (EHR configuration, monitoring, policy, procedure recommendation) | ||
| EHR Resiliency Remediation Roadmap | ||
| Assessment cloning year-over-year and across multiple entities | ||
| End-to-end audit trail to satisfy regulators | ||
| Results tracking and reporting with on-demand dashboards | ||
| In-depth assessment with supporting evidence |
Why EisnerAmper?
Your Advisors
EisnerAmper has an experienced SAFER Guides assessment team comprised of professionals with backgrounds and expertise in clinical, operational, IT, and patient safety disciplines. Using an innovative approach to assessment and remediation, we leverage our library of leading practice controls to ensure your organization is following best practices for EHR safety. Our team helps hospitals and providers tackle challenges, remain compliant, and benefit from this patient safety advantage.
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