The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

What is the HITECH Act?

On February 17, 2009, the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) was signed into law by the federal government. Included in this law is $19.2 billion for increasing the use of electronic health records (EHR) by providers. This portion of the bill is called the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act.

Why is the government willing to invest federal resources in the HITECH Act?

The government is investing and taking a leadership role in developing standards for the electronic exchange and use of health information. Extensive research has shown that effective use of an EHR system improves quality of patient care and care coordination, minimizes errors, increases productivity and reduces costs.  The HITECH Act establishes a process for the development of standards that will allow for the nationwide electronic exchange of information among doctors, hospitals, patients, health plans, the government and others.

What does the HITECH Act mean to me? 

Medicare — The Act includes provisions for incentives to be paid to providers who participate with Medicare, use a certified EHR system and use that system in a “meaningful” way. The Medicare payment to providers is $44,000, with incentive payments equaling 75% of the allowable Medicare fees billed each year, up to the full amount. (see table).

Note: The first year payment is $18,000, so you must bill at least $24,000 in allowed charges that year.

After 2015, non-use of EHR will lead to penalties. There will be a 1% reduction in Medicare reimbursements per year, up to 3% by 2017.

Medicaid – Providers whose patients include Medicaid recipients are eligible to receive nearly $64,000. If Medicaid patients make up at least 30% of your patient volume, you can earn incentives equal to 85% of the allowable Medicaid charges, up to $21,000 in the first year.   Incentive payments in the following five years are capped at $8,500 per year, for a maximum total of $63,500. (see table).

How do I qualify for the incentives?

Make sure you use a “certified” EHR: Use EHR technology certified by one of the recently announced ONC’s (Office of the National Coordinator for Health Care Information Technology) Authorized Testing and Certification bodies.

Start now by demonstrating Meaningful Use of an EHR:  

Issued by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), Meaningful Use guidelines define the requirements that providers must meet through their use of certified EHR technology in order to qualify for the incentive payments.  Among the mandatory requirements are the following:

• Use e-Prescribing — the EHR must allow providers to prescribe over the Internet
• Electronically exchange information — with labs, hospitals, providers and payers, including Medicare and Medicaid and such additional organizations as the HITECH Act may require

• Report on clinical quality measures — such as Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI)

Learn more about Meaningful Use

How can I ensure I can demonstrate Meaningful Use and collect the maximum incentives?

Choose the right EHR system and the right Meaningful Use partner — Compulink!     

Our ONC-ATCB 2011/2012 Certified Complete EHR and Practice Management solution can provide you with the features you need to meet all of the MU quality and efficiency goals.

And, as the industry’s only fully customizable solution, we can simplify the transition to EHR with a solution designed for how YOU practice.

With over 15 years of EHR experience, outstanding support, free online training/testing, and a guarantee of EHR success, Compulink is the partner you can count on to get you to meaningful use!