Incentives For Meaningful Use Certified Ehr Program

By Coleen Torres


Incorporation of technology in health management has prompted the national authority to offer incentives in order to boost compliance. The incentives offered under the meaningful use certified ehr target hospitals, professionals and critical access hospitals. The national office is responsible for enhancing capacity building and ensuring compliance. It has released a set of regulations that must be met in order to achieve the certificate.

The program began with a trail temporary program for target parties. It aimed at testing compliance and helping in capacity building as institutions and individuals prepared for permanent status. Enjoyment of incentives with a temporary certificate can only be approved if proof is provided that the systems were operation over the period of claim. There is a set threshold for such evidence.

The introduction of a permanent program aims at gradually phasing out the temporary and offering a single window for compliance. It offered a window period during which interested parties could meet the targets set. There are ongoing updates on regulations since the program is still under development. This is communicated in accessible manner by responsible authorities.

The national authority has released tools, tests, requirements and cases to be used when evaluating conformity. These rules are developed by the national institute responsible for technology and standardization. They inform an individual or institution of the level of conformity to required standards.

The technology must be meaningfully utilized to qualify a health facility or individual to receive the benefits offered under the initiative. The threshold set by standardization institute must be met. The details include information sharing about patients and offering a care summary record whenever it is needed.

Critical access hospitals, professionals and health facilities are required to fulfill different criteria. It is the area of specialization that determines the details required of each candidate. Institutions must facilitate professionals working within as they seek to meet their thresholds.

Ehr requirements are met in stages. The stages require unique levels of engagement and participation. The first stage will run for 90 days during the first year of evaluation. The second year will be reviewed in entirety making a total of fifteen months. Only institutions and professionals who complete the first stage are allowed to proceed to the next phase.

The second phase takes two full years to allow authorities to check compliance and capacity for permanent certification. Individuals are vetted following the calendar year while hospitals follow the federal fiscal calendar. It is possible to find a certified individual working in an institution that is yet to be certified. The requirements for each entity are different.

Objectives set for professionals tally to 17 core ones while hospitals, health facilities and critical access hospitals have to meet 16 core objectives. There are three additional objectives for professionals to meet, bringing their total tally to twenty. Hospitals have a total tally of nineteen since they have to select three more to add to their sixteen.

All payments regarding ehr certification have to undergo federal reductions. These reductions are referred to as sequentration and currently stand at 2 percent. This is the same percentage used under medicare. April 2013 was the closing date for reporting using these percentages. Detailed regulations are available from the website of the authority.




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