The Stimulus Program & Your Practice

The benefits of converting your practice to an Electronic Medical Record system are enormous, and provide cost savings to all practices that adopt one. But what if you could get a huge discount on your system, or even get it free? Now, thanks to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA, or also known as The Stimulus Package), you can!

According to the bill's Medicare Provision, "Physicians who implement a certified (CCHIT) solution and become meaningful users between 2010 and 2012 will be eligible for up to $44,000 each in incentive payments. Physicians who wait to become meaningful users until between 2012 and 2014 will receive smaller incentives. Physicians who have not become meaningful users by 2015 will not qualify for any payments, and will be subject to increasing penalties. Incentives are based the lesser of either 75% of the provider's Medicare Part B billings or the maximum allowable incentive."

The adoption incentive chart looks like this:

DATE YOU BEGIN REPORTING	PAYMENTS YOU WOULD RECEIVE							LENGTH OF REPORTING PERIOD
	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	TOTAL PAID
Sept. 1, 2011	$18,000	$12,000	$8,000	$4,000	$2,000	$0	$44,000	90 days for first year, 365 days for subsequent years
Sept. 1, 2012	$0	$18,000	$12,000	$8,000	$4,000	$2,000	$44,000
Sept. 1, 2013	$0	$0	$15,000	$12,000	$8,000	$4,000	$39,000
Sept. 1, 2014	$0	$0	$0	$12,000	$8,000	$4,000	$24,000
2015 or later	No Longer Eligible For Incentive Payments
Subject to change if CMS alters this information in its final meaningful use rule (april 2010)
Incentive payments are supposed to be equal to 75% of the provider's Medicare allowed charges for that year, up to a maximum of the dollar figures listed here.
Source: CMS Electronic health Record Incentive Program.

The Bill's Medicaid Provision is:

"Beginning in 2011, office-based physicians who qualify under the Medicaid provision could collect a sum total of $64,750 calculated as 85% of annual costs not exceeding $10,000 over the next five years. To be eligible under this provision, office-based physicians must demonstrate "meaningful use" of a certified EHR, and more than 30% of their cases must be attributable to Medicaid or 20% of their cases attributed to pediatrics. Office-based pediatricians are eligible to receive up to two thirds of their maximum payment."


Payment Reduction

Office-based physicians who do not adopt EHR (EMR) technology by 2015 have their Medicare payments reduced by the following:

• 1% in 2015
• 2% in 2016
• 3% in 2017 and beyond

In 2018 and beyond, the HHS Secretary may decrease one additional percent per year (to a maximum of 5%) contingent upon the levels of overall EHR adoption in the market.

This bill features several Important Early Adoption Incentives which make adopting as soon as possible the best possible financial option.

Your practice likely qualifies, so call us today to get started!