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ARRA Incentives & Stimulus Money |
 Would you like to be eligible for the e-prescribing and
Medicare or Medicaid incentive payments? This page provides resources regarding ARRA financial stimulus incentives for EMR implementation.
The recently enacted American Recovery & Reinvestment Act (ARRA), commonly referred to as the “stimulus plan,”
includes more than $19 billion in incentives for physicians to adopt electronic health record (EHR) technology. This part of the ARRA legislation
is the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH).
Basically, HITECH calls for physicians to earn up to
$64,000 over five years if they "meaningfully use" an
EHR.
 Each office-based physician who meaningfully uses a certified EHR could receive up to $44,000 (Medicare) or $64,000 (Medicaid)
in government funding. Office-based physicians practicing in rural or underserved areas would be eligible for up to $48,400 in Medicare incentives.
It’s important to note that these figures represent the maximum allowable incentives under the Medicare and Medicaid programs, and that physicians
may only qualify for either the Medicare or the Medicaid funding, but cannot qualify for both.
When will the payments be made?
Funds become available for office-based physicians on January 1, 2011 (and are eligible to apply through January 1, 2012
and still receive full benefits). Providers should begin planning as soon as possible to allow time to achieve meaningful use of certified
solutions during this time period.
What are the penalties if providers do not implement an appropriate amount of technology?
- 2015: One percent
- 2016: Two percent
- 2017 and beyond: Three percent
- 2018 and beyond: HHS Secretary may decrease one additional percent/year (max of 5%) if 75% of office based physicians don’t adopt technology by 2018
Who qualifies as an eligible professional?
"Eligible professionals" under the Medicare HIT incentive program are limited to physicians as defined in the Social
Security Act (§1861(r)), which includes:
- A doctor of medicine or osteopathy
- A doctor of surgery or of dental medicine
- A doctor of podiatric medicine
- A doctor of optometry
- A chiropractor
To receive Medicare incentive payments, the physician must:
- Not be hospital-based;
- Demonstrate meaningful use of a certified EHR; 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 Incentive program expands the definition of “eligible professionals” to include:
- Certified nurse mid-wife
- Nurse practitioner
- Physician assistant (under certain circumstances)
To receive Medicaid incentive payments, eligible professionals must:
- Not be hospital-based;
- Demonstrate meaningful use of a certified EHR; and
- Treat a patient population, of which at least 30% receive medical assistance (or 20% if the physician is a pediatrician).
What is meant by "meaningful use" of Healthcare IT?
Funding and incentives are tied to "meaningful use". While no one yet knows the full definition of meaningful use, preliminary descriptions
include the following:
-
Meaningful use of certified EHR technology- The eligible professional demonstrates to the satisfaction of the HHS Secretary, that
during such period the physician is using certified EHR technology in a meaningful manner. The certified EHR shall include the use of
electronic prescribing as determined to be appropriate by the HHS Secretary.
- Information exchange- The eligible professional demonstrates to the satisfaction of the HHS Secretary that during such period such
certified EHR technology is connected in a manner that provides, in accordance with law and standards applicable to the exchange of
information, for the electronic exchange of health information to improve the quality of health care, such as promoting care coordination.
- Reporting of measures using EHR- Using such certified EHR technology, the eligible professional submits information for such
period, in a form and manner specified by the HHS Secretary, on such clinical quality measures and such other measures as selected by the
HHS Secretary. The HHS Secretary shall seek to improve the use of EHRs and healthcare quality over time by requiring more stringent measures
of meaningful use selected under this paragraph.
Will the incentives be available for systems already in use?
The incentives are available to meaningful users of certified IT systems described in the legislation regardless of when they were implemented.
The qualifier is the date at which the eligible provider can demonstrate meaningful use of the certified technology.
What certification criteria will be used?
The legislation does not name a specific certification process or criteria. Industry experts believe there is a likelihood new certification
requirements will be based on the standards that have been adopted by CCHIT.
SOAPware, Inc. is committed to making the
SOAPware EMR compliant with the standards
required to qualify for the federal incentives
on an ongoing basis.
Is SOAPware qualified for ARRA incentives?
 At this point the certification requirements necessary to qualify for funding are not known yet and may not be for quite some time. Industry
experts believe that new certification requirements will be based on the standards that have been adopted by CCHIT.
CCHIT Certified product certification designates that a health information technology product has been tested against a set of
functionality, interoperability and security criteria and has passed inspection of 100 percent of the criteria.
SOAPware, Inc. is committed to making the SOAPware
EMR compliant with the standards defined to
qualify for the federal incentives.
Documents & Articles Describing ARRA Incentives and Stimulus Money
Other Materials
Our resource repositories are always growing, so
check back often for the latest information.
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