Registration now available for CMS EHR incentive programs

Registration for the Medicare electronic health record (EHR) incentive program and, in some states, the Medicare EHR incentive program, is now available.

Medicare EHR incentive program registration has been available since January 3. Medicaid EHR incentive program registration became available on that date in Alaska, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Michigan, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas. In February, Medicaid EHR incentive program registration will open in California, Missouri, and North Dakota. Other states likely will launch their Medicaid EHR incentive programs this spring and summer.

Information about payment, eligibility, meaningful use, certified EHR technology, and key dates for the Medicare and Medicaid incentive programs’ first year are available using the links above.

Under the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act, Medicare and Medicaid incentive payments will be available to eligible professionals, eligible hospitals, and critical access hospitals when they adopt certified EHR technology and successfully demonstrate “meaningful use” of the technology in ways that improve quality, safety, and effectiveness of patient-centered care.

If you are a professional and meet the eligibility requirements for both the Medicare and Medicaid EHR incentive programs, you must select which program you wish to participate in when you register. You cannot participate in both programs; however, after receiving payment, you may change your program selection once before 2015.

Under the EHR incentive programs, eligible professionals can receive as much as $44,000 over a 5-year period through Medicare. For Medicaid, eligible professionals can receive as much as $63,750 over 6 years.