Communities vie for slots in Medicare EHR incentive program
- By Maureen McKinney
- May 19, 2008
A project to provide physicians in select communities Medicare incentives for using electronic health records systems is paying off, officials from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said today.
More than 30 communities are now vying for 12 spots in the initiative, CMS announced. The five-year project will provide financial incentives to physician practices that meet EHR use and clinical performance marks, based on selected quality measures.
CMS plans to announce in June the 12 communities that will participate in the project. It will then work with them to recruit local physician practices. The large number of communities that have expressed interest in participating in the initiative is encouraging, said Don McLeod, a spokesman for CMS.
“We’re very excited about the number of applications,” McLeod said. “It really is a significant response."
CMS projects it will give incentive payments to as many as 1,200 small- and medium-sized practices in the 12 communities. It estimates payments could be as much as $58,000 per physician or $290,000 per physician practice.
In the first year, CMS will base incentives on EHR implementation and functionality, providing larger payments for more substantive use of medical records such as data sharing and practice management, CMS officials said.
During the second year of the demonstration, payments will be based on quality reporting and whether practices have EHRs that are certified by the Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology (CCHIT).
During the final three years of the project, CMS will determine incentive payments based on performance on 26 designated quality measures related to diabetes, heart failure, coronary artery disease and preventive care services.
Physician practices will also be able to earn bonus payments each year based on their use of and improvements upon their EHR.
The incentive payments also vary from year to year. For instance, during year two – when payment is based on quality reporting – the maximum payment is $3,000 per year for physicians and $15,000 per year for practices. During year three through five, solid performance on the chosen quality measures can yield $10,000 for physicians and $50,000 for physician practices.
Four of the designated communities will begin recruiting practices in their area in the fall 2008, while the other eight will start the process in 2009, McLeod said.
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