PRACTICE MANAGEMENT
Meaningful dollars Incentive payments help physician practices BY CRYSTAL CONDE South
Austin Medical Clinic is no newcomer to the electronic health record (EHR) arena. Family physician Eric Weid- mann, MD, says the clinic embraced a system long ago, implementing it in February 2002.
That decision continues to pay off. Dr. Weidmann was among the first round of physicians in Texas and the nation to receive $18,000 from the Medicare incentive program in May. He attested to meeting 90 days of meaningful use criteria and says his eight clinic colleagues expect to qualify for the incentive, bringing the practice’s total payments to $162,000. The Centers for Medi-
care & Medicaid Services (CMS) says attestation in- volves physicians’ use of the EHR Incentive Program Registration and Attesta- tion System (
www.cms.gov/EHRIncentivePrograms/20_Reg istrationandAttestation.asp) to fill in numerators and denomi- nators for the meaningful use objectives and clinical quality measures. Using the system, physicians legally attest they have successfully demonstrated meaningful use. CMS says a com- plete EHR system will provide a report of the numerators, de- nominators, and other information. Physicians need to enter that data into the online system. For the first payment year of the Medicaid program, physi- cians need only indicate adoption of a certified EHR system; they don’t need to achieve meaningful use the first year. Physi- cians may participate in either the Medicare or the Medicaid incentive program, but not both.
Denise Casper, DO, of Bridgeport, received $18,000 from the Medicare incentive program for completing 90 days of meaningful use of an elec- tronic health record (EHR).
Attestation of meaning- ful use started April 18, and according to CMS, 150 health professionals suc- cessfully attested that day alone. The maximum first- year incentive payment for eligible professionals is $18,000 for Medicare and $21,500 for Medicaid. To qualify for the mean- ingful use incentives, phy- sicians must meet 15 core criteria and select an addi- tional five from a menu of 10. To access the list of cri- teria, view the meaningful use rules, and learn how to register for the incen- tive programs, visit www
.texmed.org/stimulus. (See “TMA HIT Resources,” page 67.)
CMS bases the maxi- mum payment on 75 percent of a physician’s Medicare allowable Part B charges. Therefore, to qualify for the maximum
reimbursement of $18,000, a physician’s Medicare allowable Part B charges must total $24,000 for the year. But if a physi- cian fails to reach $24,000, Medicare still will reimburse him or her for 75 percent of the Medicare allowable charges. For example, if a physician’s Medicare allowable charges total $10,000 for the year, the reimbursement amount would be $7,500.
Health professionals in the Medicare incentive program can earn up to $44,000 over five years for meeting meaningful use criteria from 2011 to 2016. Eligible Medicare physicians practicing in a health professional shortage area are eligible for a 10-percent increase in incentives.
Non-hospital-based eligible physicians with at least 30- August 2011 TEXAS MEDICINE 65
SHANNON MOORE
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