Registration Process

What will the process be for registration?

Starting January 1, 2011, a web-based registration function will be launched

  • You will have to give the following information when registering:
  • Name, NPI, business address and business phone
  • Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) to which you want the incentive payment made
  • Whether you elect to participate in the Medicare EHR incentive programs or the Medicaid EHR incentive program

How will I submit proof and required reports?

First opportunity to actually file for the incentives will be April 2011

  • New web-based portal is being developed through which all required reports will be submitted
  • Note: Must keep records of all qualification & reports for six years following each Reporting Year (similar to HIPAA)

What You Need to Participate

Registration requirements include:

  • Name of the eligible professional
  • National Provider Identifier (NPI)
  • Business address and business phone
  • Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) to which the provider would like their incentive payment made
  • Medicare or Medicaid program selection (may only switch once after receiving an incentive payment before 2015) for EPs
  • State selection for Medicaid providers

States will interface with the EHR Incentive Program registration website.

States will ask providers to provide and/or attest to additional information in order to make accurate and timely payments, such as:

  • Licensure
  • Patient Volume
  • A/I/U or Meaningful Use
  • Certified EHR Technology
  • Certified EHR Technology: Required in order to achieve meaningful use
  • Standards and certification criteria announced on July 13, 2010. See http://healthit.hhs.gov/standardsandcertification for more information
  • ONC in process of authorizing “testing and certification bodies” for temporary certification program
  • Certified products are expected to be available in the Fall
  • List of certified EHRs and EHR modules will be posted on ONC web site
  • Educational sessions will be held August 18, 2010 – Visit http://healthit.hhs.gov/certification for more information
  • E-mail: ONC.Certification@hhs.gov with questions

Timeline of the Federal Incentive Program

  • Fall 2010 – Certified EHR technology will be available and listed on website
  • January 2011 – Registration for the EHR Incentive Programs begins
  • January 2011 – For Medicaid providers, States will launch their programs
  • April 2011 – Attestation for the Medicare EHR Incentive Program begins
  • May 2011 – Medicare EHR incentive payments begin
  • February 29, 2012 – Last day for EPs to register and attest to receive an incentive payment for CY 2011
  • 2015– Medicare payment adjustments begin for EPs and eligible hospitals that are not meaningful users of EHR technology
  • 2016– Last year to receive a Medicare EHR incentive payment; Last year to initiate participation in Medicaid EHR Incentive Program
  • 2021– Last year to receive Medicaid EHR incentive payment

Abbreviations

  • ACA –Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
  • A/I/U –Adopt, implement, or upgrade
  • CAH –Critical Access Hospital
  • CCN –CMS Certification Number
  • CHIPRA –Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009
  • CMS –Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
  • CNM –Certified Nurse Midwife
  • CPOE –Computerized Physician Order Entry
  • CQM –Clinical Quality Measures
  • CY –Calendar Year
  • EHR –Electronic Health Record
  • EP –Eligible Professional
  • eRx–E-Prescribing
  • FFS –Fee-for-service
  • FQHC – Federally Qualified Health Center
  • FFY – Federal Fiscal Year
  • HHS – U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
  • HIT – Health Information Technology
  • HITECH Act – Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act
  • HITPC – Health Information Technology Policy Committee
  • HIPAA – Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996
  • HPSA – Health Professional Shortage Area
  • MA –Medicare Advantage
  • MCMP – Medicare Care Management Performance Demonstration
  • MU – Meaningful Use
  • NCVHS – National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics
  • NP – Nurse Practitioner
  • NPI – National Provider Identifier
  • NPRM – Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
  • OMB – Office of Management and Budget
  • ONC – Office of the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology
  • PA – Physician Assistant
  • PECOS – Provider Enrollment, Chain, and Ownership System
  • PPS – Prospective Payment System (Part A)
  • PQRI – Medicare Physician Quality Reporting Initiative
  • RHC – Rural Health Clinic
  • RHQDAPU – Reporting Hospital Quality Data for Annual Payment Update
  • TIN – Taxpayer Identification Number

About those penalties?

What about the penalties?

  • Must demonstrate Meaningful Use by 2014 or penalties will begin in 2015
  • 1% reduction in the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule
  • If course isn’t corrected, additional 1% in 2016 and again in 2017
  • Secretary of HHS can reduce additional 2% if nationwide

So what does “Certification” mean?

  • Certification provides assurance to purchasers and other users that an EHR system, or other relevant technology, offers the necessary technological capability, functionality, and security to enable them meet the meaningful use criteria established for a given phase
  • ONC Authorized Testing and Certification Bodies (ONC- ATCBs ) will test and certify conformance with the standards, implementation specifications, and certification criteria adopted by the HHS Secretary, to meet the definition of “certified EHR technology”.
  • Standards and certification criteria against which ONC-ATCBs will test were published in a final rule in July 2010
  • Use of “certified EHR technology” is required, but not sufficient, to achieve or meet meaningful use requirements to qualify for incentive programs. Eligible professionals and hospitals must also meet the requirements specified by the Medicare and Medicaid incentive programs
  • Who Will Provide Certification Services?
  • The Office of the National Coordinator is authorizing testing and certification bodies or “ONC- ATCBs,” which will test and certify both complete EHRs and EHR Modules for conformance with adopted standards, implementation specifications, and certification criteria, as well as other requirements adopted by regulation
  • ONC has been receiving and evaluating applications by organizations who wish to become ATCBs
  • HHS names CCHIT and The Drummond Group first EHR certification bodies. These are the very first two organizations that have passed and qualified to test and certify electronic health-record systems as capable of meeting meaningful use (MU) criteria. These criteria were created and established under the federal IT subsidy program of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. In a press release on Monday August 30th, 2010, David Blumenthal, head of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology at HHS, shared that these organizations will be aligned with one another on key standards and doctors and hospitals can invest with confidence in the systems they certify. Under the stimulus law, providers must use certified EHRs in a meaningful manner to be eligible to receive federal health IT subsidy payments.

How Will You Know If Your EHR or EHR Module Is Certified?

  • Once ONC-ATCBs are authorized, and immediately after training and orientation, they are expected to begin testing and certifying complete EHRs and EHR modules against the standards and certification criteria adopted by the HHS Secretary
    In addition to publication by the ATCBs, ONC will maintain a “Certified HIT Product List” (CHPL) as a single, aggregated source of all certified complete EHRs and EHR Modules reported by ONC-ATCBs to the National Coordinator.
    • Certified EHR Version Numbers will be provided
    • Validation of whether EHR modules in combination will satisfy the applicable certification criteria will also be provided
      Certified complete EHRs and EHR modules are expected to be available (and listed within the CHPL) in the late Summer or early Fall.

What’s my next step?

  • Give our sales team either a call or e-mail at your earliest convenience to learn more about EMR & Meaningful Use Criteria. Kaizen Technical Services can help determine whether or not your EMR/EHR is certified, if your EMR Technology meets Meaningful Use Criteria and if your network is secure then prepared for ongoing maintenance.
  • For Sales, e-mail us: info@kaizentechnical.com or via phone: (281) 846-2022 and ask to speak to one of our sales specialists