Stimulus

On February 17, 2009 President Obama signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).    Within the ARRA is a very important component to the healthcare industry, known as the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act to help promote adoption of electronic health records (EHRs). As part of the act, eligible professionals have the ability to choose from two different programs: Medicare EHR Incentives or Medical EHR Incentives.

In order to actual receive the incentives (which are beginning to be paid out this year), eligible professionals must use a certified EHR technology and demonstrate meaningful use.

People use the terms electronic health record (EHR) and electronic medical record (EMR) interchangeably.  Please note that in many instances it does not matter, as long as the solution (EMR or EHR) is certified by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) as an Authorized Testing and Certification Body (ONC-ATCB).

The HITECH Act enforces eligible professionals to abide by these rules in a timely fashion (by the year 2014), or providers will face mandatory decreases in their Medicare fee payments beginning in 2015.

The Medicare EHR Incentive Program:
Up to $44,000 in payments provided to eligible professionals, eligible hospitals and CAHs that demonstrate meaningful use of a certified EHR technology.

See Medicare Incentive Payments

In 2015, if you do not demonstrate meaningful use of a certified EHR technology then you will receive a 1% reduction in your Medicare reimbursements.  2% deducted in 2016 and 3% deducted in 2017.

The Medicaid EHR Incentive Program:
The Medicaid incentive program is slightly different, providing up to $65,000 per provider in reimbursements.  The eligible professional must demonstrate that a specific percentage of patients are covered by Medicaid (20-30%).  With this program, the reimbursements are paid out over a six year time period.  There are no deductions in fee schedules under this program.

See Medicaid Incentive Payments