Meaningful Use

What is Meaningful Use?

The Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs provide financial incentives for health care providers to “meaningfully use” certified electronic health records (EHRs) to achieve health care quality and efficiency goals.

The EHR Incentive Program was created as a result of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act of 2009, allowing eligible health care professionals to qualify for Medicare and Medicaid incentive payments of up to $63,750 each.

Requirements for Meaningful Use incentive payments are being implemented over a multi-year period, phasing in additional requirements for IT and quality objectives in later years (i.e. Stage 1, Stage 2 and Stage 3 Meaningful Use).

The final Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) rule specifies criteria that eligible professionals (EPs) and eligible hospitals, including critical access hospitals (CAHs), must meet. The rule also includes the formula for the calculation of the incentive payment amounts.

Meaningful Use in Colorado:

• Colorado providers started receiving Medicare incentive payments in May 2011. Nationally, more than 300,000 physicians and eligible professionals have signed up to participate, and more than 4,000 hospitals have enrolled. As of February 2013, $12.7 billion has been paid out to providers who successfully achieved at least one stage of Meaningful Use according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

• Colorado Medicaid incentive payments began in May of 2012. As of September 2012, 390 qualifying providers received more than $8 million and 23 eligible hospitals have earned over $17 million. More information about the Medicaid EHR incentives can be found at http://co.arraincentive.com.

• Eligible primary care providers can register to receive no-cost services from the Colorado Regional Extension Center program to get help purchasing and implementing an EHR, as well as achieving Meaningful Use.

Are You Eligible for Medicare or Medicaid EHR Incentives?
> Find out with this easy-to-use flow chart! (PDF)

Your Timeline for Meaningful Use
> Find out when you can expect to attest for and receive payments

Registration for the Medicare EHR Incentive Program
Visit the CMS website now to register online. Providers should register for the EHR Incentive Program as soon as possible. You can register before you have a certified EHR. Register even if you do not have an enrollment record in PECOS.

Colorado Medicaid EHR Incentive Information
The Colorado Medicaid EHR Incentive Program began registering eligible professionals in January of 2012. Through the Colorado Regional Extension Center program, CORHIO is helping the Department of Health Care Policy & Financing (HCPF) educate providers on the EHR incentive program.

New! 2013 Eligibility and Meaningful Use Workbooks for the Medicaid EHR Incentive Program

Eligible Professionals:

• Individual EP Eligibility Workbook
• Group Eligibility Workbook
• EP Eligibility Verification Workbook/De-identified List
• EP EHR Reporting Period Workbook

Eligible Hospitals:

• EH Eligibility Workbook
• EH Payment Calculation Workbook
• EH EHR Reporting Period Workbook

Meaningful Use Quick Reference Guides

• Stage 1 quick reference guide (PDF)
• Stage 2 quick reference guide (PDF)
• Stage 1 Core and Menu Measures in the CO R&A (PDF)

User Guides

• Colorado State Level Registry for Provider Incentive Payments Eligible Hospital User Manual (PDF)
• Colorado State Level Registry for Provider Incentive Payments Eligible Professional User Manual (PDF)

Stage 1 Changes

• EHR Incentive Program Stage 1 Changes - 2013 - Eligible Professionals
• EHR Incentive Program Stage 1 Changes - 2013 - Eligible Hospitals

More information about the Medicaid EHR incentives can be found at http://co.arraincentive.com.

Additional Information & Resources:

• CMS Meaningful Use overview

• Achieving Meaningful Use of Health Information Technology: A Guide for Physicians to the EHR Incentive Programs from the Archives of Internal Medicine (May 2012)

• Meaningful use glossary (PDF) from the American Medical Association (AMA)

• Meaningful use attestation calculator - an online tool provided by CMS that allows providers to test whether or not they would successfully demonstrate meaningful use for the EHR Incentive Programs

• Medicare EHR Incentive Programs, PQRI & E-Prescribing Comparison (PDF) provided by CMS

• Changes to Stage 1 of Meaningful Use announced in September 2012

• Information about final Stage 2 Meaningful Use requirements

 

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