EHR Benefits of Electronic Health Records Soft EHR Incentives Program
The implementation of electronic health records became essential after the announcement of the ARRA Act of 2009 which announced incentives of approximately $27 billion over 10 years for eligible professionals who adopt EHR technology. The HITECH Act, a subsection of the ARRA Act allocates $19 billion for Health Information Technology (HIT) – the Medicare EHR incentive program will be paying as much as $44,000 for Medicare eligible professionals over a 5 year time span and $63,750 for Medicaid eligible professionals over a 6 year time span. Eligible professionals are defined as doctors of medicine or osteopathy, doctors of dental surgery, doctors of podiatric medicine, doctors of optometry and chiropractors that demonstrate the “meaningful use” of certified EHR technology. ”Meaningful use” means that providers will demonstrate certified EHR technology through:E- Prescribing, and electronic exchange of health information to Tinnitus Treatment labs, public health agencies and insurancesUsing a certified EHR that will automate and connect practices underPutting aside pen & paper by adopting (CPOE) computerized provider order entryBasic data entry of patient records i.e. demographics, vital signs, etc.Recording active medications and allergiesMaintaining up-to-date problem lists of current & active diagnosisSmoking status for at least 50% of patients 13 years old or olderSending patient reminders for preventive/follow-up careChecking insurance eligibility electronically from public and private payersSubmitting claims electronically to public and private payersReporting ambulatory quality measures to CMS (PQRI) via an electronic health recordImplementing clinical decision support rulesThe EHR incentive reporting period for the starting year is 90 continuous days during the calendar year. In subsequent years the reporting period is the entire calendar year.