E.H.R? Meaningful Use? What Does it Mean for You? Practice-Web Breaks it Down.

Lately, there has been more and more talk about E.H.R. Certification (Electronic Health Record).  Do you know what it is? Do you know how it affects your practice?  If you have done the research yourself you have probably given up on all of the confusing verbiage that has been flying around the dental community.  Practice-Web has done the research for you and has pulled out the important points of what you need to know.

Let’s go back to the beginning.  Back in 2009, President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.  It allocated 17.2 billion dollars to the healthcare industry to improve the way they work with patients.  They found that offices that process paper cost the industry BILLIONS of dollars. Therefore, if you are a medical/dental professional who makes an effort to go paperless and improve patient care, they will reward you with a monetary incentive.  Before you get too excited this is where the confusing part comes in.

There are two incentive programs, Medicaid E.H.R. Incentive and Medicare E.H.R. Incentive.  As per the Medicaid E.H.R. Incentive, you could potentially receive $63,750. As per the Medicare E.H.R Incentive, you could potentially receive $44,000. These amounts would be paid over a 5 year period.  Yes, there are two programs however even if you see both types of patients in your office you can only participate in one program, the program you participate in would be the one that you qualify for.  Medicaid is a state program, since participating in the E.H.R. Incentive program is completely voluntary it is possible that your state could “OPT-OUT” (check to see if your state is even participating in the E.H.R. Incentive program), which means the only program you could participate in is the Medicare E.H.R. Incentive if you qualify.

Now you are probably asking, how do I know if I qualify?  To qualify for the monetary incentive at least 30% of the patients you treat, must be Medicaid or Medicare.  It’s 20% if you are a pedo office. (Texas CHIP’s doesn’t count).  If you qualify to participate the next step is to get E.H.R. Certified.  Practice-Web does have a certified E.H.R. version for dental offices.  If you qualify and are interested in being E.H.R. certified, Practice-Web has you covered. All you need is a provider key and an upgrade so you can apply for a certification ID, which you get from us.

Now let’s talk about “Meaningful Use”.  Yes, the government has a bunch of money to give you, however, the idea is that you are making an effort to achieve a paperless office and improve patient care at the same time. In the first year you will automatically get your first year incentive money, this potentially could be as much as $21,250.  This money is a kind of good faith payment.  The government is saying “we hope that you will put effort into going paperless so here is your start, but next year you will have to prove it”.  Here comes “meaningful use”.  In order to get any remaining incentive payments for the next four years, you will have to give the ONC (The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology) a series of very specific reports showing that you are making an effort to be paperless and improve patient care.  You will get paid a percentage of the incentive money based on your percentage of Medicaid treatment and “meaningful use” (an effort to go paperless) this could be as much as $8,500. However, if after seeing the reports the ONC doesn’t approve, then you do not get your money for that year.  It doesn’t mean you wouldn’t get it in year three after submitting your reports but for year two, no money for you :(. Now with the Medicare program if you don’t show sufficient “meaningful use” they will start docking your future Medicare payments. Therefore, if your going to take part in this program make sure you are serious about seeing it through to the end.

An important point to know! Most offices that qualify to participate in the Incentive program DO NOT qualify for the maximum amount of incentive money.  They actually pay you based on a percentage of the Medicaid or Medicare patients you see for a total up to $63,750 (for Medicaid) or $44,000 (Medicare) whichever is the lesser amount, so based on your qualifying percentage you might only see  $10,000 your first year, not $21,250.  Check with your local Medicaid office to see how much you could qualify for.

Next question, what is the deadline?  You have until December 31, 2012, to qualify for first-year payment without showing meaningful use reports. You can start the program in 2013 and still qualify for the maximum amount, the only difference is you have to present meaningful use reports to the ONC within your first year of being certified. You can postpone this process all the way up until 2016.  2016 is the last year they will accept new applicants for the program and 2021 is the last year any payments will be given.  Therefore the answer to your question do, “I have to start this A.S.A.P?”  The answer is NO.

Here are the steps to follow:

1. Check to see which program you qualify for. (Medicaid or Medicare)
2. Call Practice-Web and get certification ID.
3. Apply with the ONC
4. Start using your paperless features

Practice-Web will do whatever we can to assist you with this process if it is something you are interested in.  Beware, there are some E.H.R. companies out there that might try to sell you their certification for a percentage of your incentive money ( we have seen as much as 25%).  If you qualify this is your money. Don’t let some company take it away from you.  Practice-Web will not charge you a penny of your incentive money.  There is just a small fee for the license. Once you get your incentive check, it’s all yours!

Good luck and call us if you would like assistance 😀