Under the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Act (HITECH), federal incentive payments will be available to doctors when they adopt EHRs and demonstrate use in ways they can improve quality, safety and effectiveness of care.  Eligible professionals can receive as much as $44,000 over a five-year period through Medicare.  A qualifying eligible professional can receive an annual incentive payment as high as $18,000 if their first payment is in 2011 or 2012.

***NexTech meets the preliminary ARRA IFR Stage 1 Certification inspection, meaning NexTech is prepared to be certified once ONC accredited testing and certification becomes available***

EHR Incentive Program Timeline: 

Registration:

Eligible Professionals must report on 20 of the 25 meaningful use objectives.  The final rule divides the requirements into a “core” group of requirements that must be met, plus an additional “menu” of procedures from which providers may choose.

Meaningful Use: Eligible Professionals - 15 Core Set Objectives 
EPs –15 Core Objectives
1. Computerized physician order entry (CPOE)
2. E-Prescribing (eRx)
3. Report ambulatory clinical quality measures to CMS/States
4. Implement one clinical decision support rule
5. Provide patients with an electronic copy of their health information, upon request
6. Provide clinical summaries for patients for each office visit
7. Drug-drug and drug-allergy interaction checks
8. Record demographics
9. Maintain an up-to-date problem list of current and active diagnoses
10.  Maintain active medication list
11. Maintain active medication allergy list
12. Record and chart changes in vital signs
13. Record smoking status for patients 13 years or older
14. Capability to exchange key clinical information among providers of care and patient-authorized entities electronically
15. Protect electronic health information 

Meaningful Use: Eligible Professionals - 10 Menu Set Objectives* 
1. Drug-formulary checks
2. Incorporate clinical lab test results as structured data
3. Generate lists of patients by specific conditions
4. Send reminders to patients per patient preference for preventive/follow up care
5. Provide patients with timely electronic access to their health information
6. Use certified EHR technology to identify patient-specific education resources and provide to patient, if appropriate
7. Medication reconciliation
8. Summary of care record for each transition of care/referrals
9. Capability to submit electronic data to immunization registries/systems*
10. Capability to provide electronic syndromic surveillance data to public health agencies*
*At least 1 public health objective must be selected

Electronic Prescribing (eRx) Incentive Program:

If an Eligible Professional chooses to participate in the Medicare EHR Incentive Program, they cannot participate in the Medicare eRx Incentive Program simultaneously in the same program year.  

Click Here for the Official Web Site for the Medicare EHR Incentive Program