Stimulus Incentives- Medicare
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- Am I eligible?: To qualify, you must be a physician, dentist, optometrist, podiatrist, or chiropractor (limited) and be a non-hospital provider caring for Medicare patients.
- When should I start?: First year payouts require meaningful use of EMR to be implemented by 1/1/2011. For each subsequent year, meaningful use must be proven by the first of January to receive incentives for that year. This means that practices should begin EMR implementation with regards to meaningful use at least 10-12 months before the year they wish to be eligible. The processes of training and installing EMR and demonstrating and reporting on meaningful use will vary by practice- the bigger your practice, the earlier you should begin.
- When will I receive my payments?: As of July 13th, 2010, payments are scheduled to begin in May of 2011.
- What should I know about payments?: Not everyone will receive the exact incentive payments listed in the table below. Incentives are based on 75% of allowable Medicare charges. So, for example, a practice that bills $20,000 in allowable charges will receive $15,000 in incentives in 2011 (assuming they have demonstrated meaningful use by 1/1/2011). Only those that bill $24,000 or more of allowable charges annually will receive the full $18,000 in 2011.
- What about penalties?: Penalties begin in 2015 for practices that have not adopted a certified EMR in a meaningful way. These penalties increase with each subsequent year and fee schedules will be reduced as follows:
- 2015 – 1% Reduction
- 2016 – 2% Reduction
- 2017 – 3% Reduction
- 2018 – 4% (Secretary of HHS Option if fewer than 75% of eligible professionals are not meaningfully using a certified EHR)
- 2018 – 5% (Secretary of HHS Option if fewer than 75% of eligible professionals are not meaningfully using a certified EHR)
*Penalties begin in 2015
Stimulus Incentives- Medicaid
- Am I eligible?: To qualify, you must be a physician, dentist, nurse practitioner, physician assistant, or certified nurse mid-wife and be a non-hospital provider. Additionally, you must be practicing in a rural health clinic or Federally Qualified Health Clinic (FQHC). 30% of patient base must be Medicaid patients (20% for pediatricians).
- When should I start?: The first year incentive of up to $25,000 represents startup funds used for implementing meaningful use. This begins in 2011 and extends through 2016. However, it is advisable to begin as early as possible to ensure you don’t miss out on incentive opportunities.
- When will I receive my payments?: As of July 13th, 2010, payments are scheduled to begin in May of 2011.
- What should I know about payments?: The startup incentive of up to $25,000 will be paid in the first year. After that, practitioners can receive up to $10,000 per year for four years if they can demonstrate meaningful use. These figures are based on the maximum incentives allowed. Payments are based off of 85% of net allowable costs. Currently, “net allowable costs” are not completely defined. However, it is widely believed that the maximum payment over five years could be as much as $65,000.
- What about penalties?: No penalties have been defined for failure to adopt EMR by Medicaid.
