• What is the EHR Stimulus Incentive Plan?
• Why Should You Purchase and Implement EHR Now?
• Are There Penalties for Not Using EHR?
• What is a Meaningful User?
• What is a Certified EHR Technology?
• First Insight is a Member of the CCHIT Eye Care Work Group
• How Will the Federal Government Distribute Incentive Payments?

By now many of you have heard about the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 that President Barack Obama recently signed into law on February 17, 2009. The good news for the eye care industry is that the Health IT Incentive Program allocates $19.2 billion to doctors who adopt electronic health records (EHR), also known as electronic medical records (EMR).

Beginning in 2011, doctors who are “meaningful users” of “certified EHR technology” will be eligible to receive up to $44,000 paid out over a five year period. Incentives are based on “meaningful use” and are not tied to the actual cost of acquiring or maintaining an EHR. Of the $19.2 billion, $17.2 billion will be paid out over five years in the form of incentive payments through Medicare or Medicaid reimbursements – not both (see EHR Incentives by Year Payment table shown below).

While the federal government has only released EHR incentive objectives as to what qualifies doctors as a meaningful user, it’s imperative that you are several steps ahead of the federal mandates and not wait until the last minute to get started. As an early adopter of EHR, it will be much easier for you to capitalize on incentive dollars — 70% of the funding comes in the first two years.

According to a consensus at the spring 2009 Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society annual conference, you shouldn’t wait until the end of this year to purchase and implement EHR, as this will increase the risk that your practice may not be eligible to receive maximum incentive funds.

While 2011 may seem a far way off, moving to a new system takes time, patience and commitment. Poor planning, poor communication, and poor training can lead to unwelcome results if you try to rush through the process. 

To take full advantage of maximum incentive payments, contact First Insight today, start the purchase and deployment process, evaluate office workflows, train your employees, and fully implement your EMR/EHR system before mid 2010.

The EHR Stimulus Bill has a double edge sword. While you may qualify for incentive payments beginning in 2011, if you decide to forego implementing an EHR in your practice, starting in 2015, if you are not a “meaningful user,” you will see a 1% reduction in Medicare payments. The reduction increases to 2% in 2016 and 3% in each subsequent year.

If the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) finds that by 2017, the proportion of physicians who are meaningful EHR users is less than 75%, HHS may continue to ratchet down payments by 1% a year (but may not reduce payments below 95%). Hardship exceptions may be issued on a case-by-case basis, such as exceptions for physicians who practice in rural areas without adequate Internet access.