Education

For more information about the EHR Incentive Program, click on the link: http://www.cms.gov/ehrincentiveprograms/

Education

US Government Incentive Program


The healthcare industry is one of the last industries that maintain and store patient health records in a paper-based health record management system. The government has initiated a move to modernize healthcare by promoting electronic health record systems. The rational being that accuracy of records, better coordination and management of patient health care, and reduction in fraud, will produce savings that will more than offset the cost of incentivizing the health care industry to move to the digital age.


The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) ACT provisions of the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009 ("ARRA", or the "Stimulus Act") provides billions of dollars in incentives for the adoption and use of health information technology (HIT) by Medicare and Medicaid providers over the next ten years. Financial Incentives in the stimulus bill provide an opportunity for eligible professionals who desire a fully integrated EHR but struggle with funding and with barriers to sharing information effectively.


Eligible Medicare providers can receive a maximum stimulus incentive of $44,000.00 paid out over five years, provided the eligible physician achieves "meaningful use" starting in the calendar years 2011 or 2012. Medicare providers who initiate the adoption of EHR in 2013 and onwards will not receive the full incentive benefit.


On the other hand, eligible Medicaid providers have a maximum stimulus incentive of $63,750.00 paid out over six years starting in 2011. Eligible Medicaid providers can adopt a certified EHR as late as 2016 and still receive the maximum incentive benefit.


The Government Incentive Program (HITECH) provides for Medicare penalties to be imposed on eligible Medicare medical practitioners who fail to adopt a certified EHR system for non-compliance by 2015. The Medicare penalty is 1% for every year of non-compliance up to a maximum penalty of 5% of Medicare reimbursements. Adopting a certified EHR system is therefore essential to the financial health of a doctor's practice.


Under the Medicare Incentive Program:


  • For the 1st year incentive (2011 or 2012), an eligible Medicare provider must demonstrate meaningful use for a period of 90 days;

  • For the 2nd to 4th year incentive (2013 - 2015), an eligible Medicare provider must demonstrate meaningful use for a period of 12 months for each calendar year;

    • Under the Medicaid Incentive Program:


    Contrary to the requirement of continuous demonstration of "meaningful use" in the Medicare Incentive Program, a Medicaid provider could apply for the incentive for one year and not the following year with no penalty. Under the Medicaid Incentive Program:

    • For the 1st year incentive, the eligible Medicaid provider needs only to "adopt, implement or upgrade" an EHR system.

    • For the 2nd year incentive, the eligible Medicaid provider is required to demonstrate meaningful use for a period of 90 days.

    • For the succeeding years, the eligible provider is required to demonstrate "meaningful use" for a period of 12 months for each calendar year.

Purchasing the right product is an essential element for achieving meaningful use. The product must be certified by the ONC-ATB as having the capability to achieve "meaningful use" provided the eligible provider correctly uses the system.


Meaningful Use


The Health Information Technology (HITECH) provisions of the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA or the "Stimulus Act"), provides for Medicare penalties to be imposed on medical practitioners if they fail to meet "meaningful use" by 2015. Adopting an EHR solution is therefore essential to the financial health of a doctor's practice. The Medicare penalty is 1% of Medicare reimbursement for every year of noncompliance up to a maximum penalty of 5% of Medicare reimbursement.


Meaningful use requirements are grouped into three stages.


  • Stage 1: The focus is on capturing data accurately and securely
  • Stage 2: Reporting health information and tracking key clinical conditions
  • Stage 3: Improving performance and health outcomes

Purchasing the right product is therefore an essential element for achieving "Meaningful Use." The product must be certified by the ONC-ATCB (Office of the National Coordinator - Authorized Testing and Certification Body). EHRiX is a complete EHR solution, certified by InfoGard Laboratories, as providing the necessary capabilities and complying with the standards for "meaningful use." One feature to this end is "clinical quality measures," a tool that assists the doctor in monitoring the practice's "meaningful use" compliance.



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