A health system owns and operates a hospital and employs primary care physicians, general surgeons, and oncologists. The hospital purchased a surgical practice in 2012. Part of the purchase of the practice included the purchase of the elec- tronic medical record system that was a certified EHR. In Jan- uary 2014, the hospital transitioned the primary care physicians, surgeons, and the radiologists in the hospital to a new certified electronic health record, the implementation of which was completed 10 months later in October 2014. The physicians did not satisfy the MU criteria from January 1, 2014, to December 31, 2104, because of the transition to a new certified EHR system. In addition, in 2015 the hospital's electronic medical record vendor informed the hospital that it would not be able to satisfy the Stage 3 interoperability and technology standards by January 2018. Discussion Questions 1. Determine which (if any) of the following physicians will be subject to a payment penalty in 2015: (a) primary care physicians, (b) surgeons, or (c) radiologists. 2. Describe the timeline of the program and its potential financial impact on the individual healthcare providers who are involved in MU. 3. Describe the process the physicians must complete to avoid the payment penalties. 4. Describe the time frame for the provider to achieve mod- ified Stage 2 and Stage 3 measures. 5. Discuss what the hospital must do to achieve the MU objectives for interoperability.