Financial Incentives
The passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provides incentives for office-based physicians and other providers to tap into the power of electronic medical records (EMR).
Physicians can qualify under either the Medicare or Medicaid provision. Physicians mudt be office-based to be eligible, and they can not collect incentive payments from both.
In order to qualify for the incentives, physicians must demonstrate “meaningful use” of a certified EMR. Required product capabilities are electronic prescribing, clinical reporting and interoperability, among others. Practice Partner EMR from a qualified EMR Software provider and McKesson has these abilities.
Beginning in 2011, office-based physicians who are “meaningful users” of certified EMRs are entitled to receive up to $44,000 of total Medicare incentive payments over 5 years – from 2011 to 2015. The structure of the maximum incentives physicians can receive is as follows:
- $15,000 the first year
- $12,000 the second year
- $8,000 the third year
- $4,000 the fourth year
- $2,000 the fifth year
Additionally, office-based physicians can qualify for a one-time, “early adopter” incentive of $3,000 if they qualify for the program in 2011 or 2012. Incentives are based on the lesser of either 75% of the provider’s Medicare Part B billings or the maximum allowable incentive.
For office-based physicians who do not adopt EMR technology by 2015, Medicare payments will be reduced by:
- 1% in 2015
- 2% in 2016
- 3% in 2017 and beyond
