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Funds are available for distribution for providers on January 1, 2011: all eligible providers should implement certified EHR-EMR/PMs to allow time to demonstrate “meaningful use”
Each office based physician demonstrating meaningful use through a certified EHR-EMR/PM system can receive up to $44,000 for Medicare or $63,500 for Medicaid. Office based physicians in rural areas can be eligible for an additional $4,400 in Medicare incentives.
An eligible professional as designated in the Medicare HIT program is a physician defined as: a doctor of medicine or osteopathy; doctor of surgery or of dental medicine; doctor of podiatric medicine; doctor of optometry; and chiropractors. To receive Medicare incentives, the physician must not be hospital based, must demonstrate meaningful use of a certified EHR-EMR/PM, and submit Medicare Part B claims of at least 133% of the maximum incentive for a program year to qualify for the maximum incentive payment.
The Medicaid HIT program expands the definition of eligible professionals to include certified nurse mid-wives, nurse practitioners and certain physician assistants. Medicaid incentive payments are for eligible professionals who are not hospital based while demonstrating meaningful use of a certified EHR-EMR/PM, and treating a patient population where 30% receive Medicaid or, 20% if the physician is a pediatrician.
Certification requirements are based on the standards adopted by the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology. CCHIT product certification designates that a HIT product has been tested against a set of functionality, interoperability and security criteria and meeting all at 100%.
ABELMed EHR-EMR/PM v11 achieved CCHIT Certified® 2011 Comprehensive certification*
Funds become available for office based physicians on January 1, 2011. All eligible providers should implement certified EHR-EMR/PM systems to allow time to prove meaningful use.
Office based physician maximum allowable Medicare incentive for the first year of meaningful use is increased by $3,000, from $15,000 to $18,000 for meaningful EHR-EMR/PM use starting 2011 or 2012. An early adopter incentive raises the total amount physicians can qualify for from $41,000 to $44,000.
For office based physicians who do not adopt such technology by 2015, Medicare payments will be reduced by the following factors in the years specified: 2015 by 1%; 2016 by 2%; 2017 by 3% and beyond may decrease one additional percent per year, maximum set currently at 7% percent, though this may increase.
Those eligible professionals who predominantly furnish services in a geographic area that is designated as a “health professional shortage area” may receive a 10% increase in their annual payment.
Incentives are available to meaningful users of certified HIT systems described in the legislation regardless of when they were implemented. However, it is the date at which the eligible provider can demonstrate meaningful use of the certified technology which will truly be the qualifier.
Everyone. Initially, mainly hospitals and office based physicians will directly benefit from the incentives as they are designed to reduce healthcare costs by accelerating the use of HIT to improve quality, safety and efficiency. But ultimately, patients and caregivers both will benefit from the automation and connectivity enabled by EHR-EMR/PM — again, this means every one of us will benefit from this technology.
*Pre-market conditionally certified for Ambulatory EHR 2011 pending verification of operational use at two physician practices.
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