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Update on Meaningful Use!
On July 28, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published in
the Federal Register the final rules for meaningful use and certification
standards of electronic health record (EHR) systems under the
HITECH
provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The rules
establish the requirements for eligible hospitals and providers to
qualify for Medicare and Medicaid incentives for meaningful use of
certified EHRs. For a summary of the regulations, you may want to read
The
New England Journal of Medicine article by David Blumenthal, M.D.,
M.P.P., and Marilyn Tavenner, R.N., M.H.A.
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Patient Web Forms
Be able to collect Patient Payments on line or in the office. Let the
patient see their financial status by login-in using their own created login
information. Collect valuable information to accept new patients, or simply
let the established patient visit your site for other information. The
clinic decides what information should be available.
Patient Web Forms is a MCF Registered Product created with your practice in
mind. Any unauthorized copy is
strictly prohibited and pursuable by law.
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Privacy Policy
Protecting your privacy is important to us. We hope the following statement will
help you understand how MediClaim of Florida, Inc. collects, uses, and
safeguards the personal information you provide to us on our site. This policy
applies to our entire site.
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What healthcare IT incentives are included in the American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act?
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What role has McKesson played in the legislative process?
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Who or what kinds of organizations will benefit from the
healthcare IT incentives?
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What is the potential financial benefit of the healthcare IT
incentives to physicians?
- When will the payments be made?
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Are there additional incentives for office-based physicians
to adopt in the early years of the
program?
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What are the penalties if
healthcare providers do not implement an appropriate amount of
technology and report quality data by 2015?
- Who qualifies as an eligible professional?
- Do hospital-based physicians qualify?
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Do physician assistants, nurse practitioners, etc. qualify for the
incentive?
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Who qualifies for the additional 10% rural health incentive for office-based
physicians?
- What is meant by “meaningful use” of healthcare IT?
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Will the incentives be applied to systems already in use, or will they be
applied to the purchase of new systems only?
- What
certification criteria will be used?
- Does McKesson have a certified ambulatory EHR?
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What healthcare IT incentives are included in the American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act?
As part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the U.S.
government will invest more than $19 billion to modernize and
accelerate the use of health information technology –
particularly electronic health records (EHRs) – by hospitals and
physicians.
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What role has McKesson played in the legislative process?
McKesson has been actively involved, meeting with members of
President Obama’s team before and after he took office, as
well as with Congressional members and their staff. In December,
McKesson formalized its recommendations for healthcare
IT investment in a white paper that was posted on the change.gov
Web site. We also are active participants in a number of
industry associations to coordinate and communicate the
interests of McKesson and its customers. We will continue to
closely monitor the progress of this legislation and the many
details that will need to be worked through in the coming weeks
and months.
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Who or what kinds of organizations will benefit from the
healthcare IT incentives?
The incentives primarily benefit hospitals and office-based
physicians. They are designed to reduce healthcare costs by
accelerating the use of IT to improve quality, safety and
efficiency. Ultimately, patients and caregivers also will
benefit from
the automation and connectivity enabled by EHRs.
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What is the potential financial benefit of the healthcare IT
incentives to physicians?
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.
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Are there additional incentives for office-based physicians
to adopt in the early years of the
program?
Office-based physicians’ 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 use in 2011 or 2012.
This "early adopter" incentive raises the total amount
physicians can qualify for from $41,000 to $44,000. A benefit
for office-based physician early adoption does not exist under
the Medicaid incentive program.
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What are the penalties if
healthcare providers do not implement an appropriate amount of
technology and report quality data by 2015?
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: 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).
Back to Top
Although the incentives are not dependent on the eligible
provider being a participating Medicare provider, the incentive
amounts available to any provider is the lesser of 133% of their
annual billed Medicare Part B charges or the maximum
payment specified for the year in the regulations. (For example,
a provider would have to bill $16,000 in Part B charges in
order to qualify for a year in which the maximum allowable
incentive payment is $12,000.) There are no distinctions between
specialty and primary care physicians in terms of the
incentives, EXCEPT that hospital-based physicians do not qualify
for the
physician incentives.
Back to Top
- Do hospital-based physicians qualify?
The legislation specifically states that hospital-based physicians do not
qualify for the Medicare or Medicaid EHR incentives.
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Do physician assistants, nurse practitioners, etc. qualify for the
incentive?
Certified nurse mid-wives, nurse practitioners and physician assistants will
not qualify under the Medicare provisions. These
providers can receive Medicaid incentives provided that at least 30% of
their patients receive medical assistance.
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Who qualifies for the additional 10% rural health incentive for office-based
physicians?
An “eligible professional” who predominantly furnishes services in a
geographic area that is designated by the HHS Secretary
as a health professional shortage area may receive a 10% increase in their
annual payment.
- 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:
An eligible professional shall be treated as a meaningful EHR user for a
reporting period for a payment year if the following
requirements are met:
- 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.
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Will the incentives be applied to systems already in use, or will they be
applied to the purchase of new systems only?
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.
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- What
certification criteria will be used?
To qualify for the healthcare IT incentive, the legislation calls for the
use of certified systems. The legislation does not name a specific certification process or criteria.
McKesson supports a collaborative effort among all healthcare stakeholders to develop the uniform standards, coordinated
policies and necessary infrastructure to support secure health information exchange and to promote interoperability among
health IT systems. Industry experts believe there is a likelihood new certification requirements will be based on the
standards that have been adopted by CCHIT. McKesson has been deeply involved in this important work.
- Does McKesson have a certified ambulatory EHR?
The certification requirements necessary to qualify for funding are not
known yet and may not be for quite some time.
Industry experts believe there is a likelihood 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.
- Practice Partner® Patient Records, McKesson’s EHR solution for affiliated
and independent physicians, is one of only a
few ambulatory electronic health record systems to have met CCHIT
certification requirements every year since the 2006
inception of CCHIT. Most recently, Practice Partner Patient Records Version
9.3 became a CCHIT Certified® product for
CCHIT Ambulatory EHR 2008 and Child Health.
- Horizon Ambulatory Care™, McKesson’s EHR solution for hospital-employed
physicians and large practices, was among
the first ambulatory EHR solutions to be CCHIT-certified in 2006. Horizon
Ambulatory Care Release 9.4 is a CCHIT
Certified product for CCHIT Ambulatory EHR 2006. McKesson plans to reapply
for certification against the 2009
Ambulatory EHR criteria with Release 10.1.
Copyright © 2009 McKesson Corporation and/or one of its subsidiaries. All
rights reserved. Practice Partner is a registered trademark of McKesson
Information Solutions LLC. Horizon Ambulatory Care is a trademark of
McKesson Information Solutions LLC. All other product or company names
mentioned may be trademarks, service marks or registered trademarks of their
respective companies. 03/09
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