Note from Peggy: Incentive payments for Electronic Health Records
Medicare Update for Physician Services, July 2, 2009
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CMS intends to publish a proposed rule in late 2009 to define meaningful use of certified Electronic Health Records (EHR) technology and establish criteria for the incentives programs. They are working extensively with the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) to identify the proposed criteria. Eligible professionals (EPs), who adopt EHR as early as 2011 or 2012 may be eligible for up to $44,000 in Medicare incentive payments spread out over five years (increased by 10% for EPs who predominantly furnish services in a health professional shortage area).
Decisions about EHR standards, implementation specifications, and certification criteria have not been made yet, and are currently under development. Policies will be proposed in the regulation to be published in late 2009. By statute, the earliest dates that CMS will be able to pay an incentive under Medicare is October 1, 2010, for hospitals and January 1, 2011, for eligible professionals.
Work is underway to define the meaningful EHR user criteria, as well as the requirements for applying for and receiving the EHR payment incentives. CMS expects to issue a proposed rule in late 2009.
A series of Frequently Asked Questions on CMS’ site addressed incentive payments for electronic health records. The questions of interest include those from 9806 through 9816 listed below.
- 9805: When will CMS publish regulations to define certified EHR and “meaningful use?”
- 9806: What is CMS’ overall time frame for actions and activities related to the incentive program?
- 9807: When will CMS begin to pay incentives to eligible professionals and hospitals for using certified EHRs?
- 9808: If an eligible professional uses a certified EHR in a meaningful way in accordance with the adopted regulations, and meets the requirements established by CMS, could that professional receive both the Medicare EHR payment incentive as well as the Medicaid EHR payment incentive?
- 9809: If I already have an EHR certified by the Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology (CCHIT), will I have to buy a new system if the government mandates that only EHRs that meet a higher certification level are considered certified EHRs?
- 9810: What is the maximum incentive an eligible professional can earn for using an EHR under Medicaid?
- 9811: What is the maximum EHR incentive an eligible professional can earn under Medicare?
- 9812: What if my Electronic Health Record (EHR) system costs much more than the incentive the government will pay? May I request additional funds?
- 9813: What is the earliest date the payment adjustments will start to be imposed for eligible professionals and hospitals that are not meaningful Electronic Health Record (EHR) users under the HITECH provisions of the Recovery Act?
- 9814: How will eligible providers and hospitals apply for incentives if they are using certified Electronic Health Records (EHRs) in accordance with the standards established by Health and Human Services (HHS) under the HITECH portion of the Recovery Act?
- 9815: How will the public know who has received incentive payments under the Recovery Act?
- 9816: What will be done to help prepare providers to take advantage of the incentive payments for the meaningful use of an EHR?
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