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Where we are now...
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To receive EHR incentives, physicians must demonstrate “meaningful use” of a “certified EHR.” Please see page 3 for details regarding “Meaningful Use.”
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No certifying body has yet been recognized for the EHR Incentive program. Many bodies have applied, including CCHIT®, and CMS anticipates naming official certification bodies by late summer 2010.
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CMS feels an overwhelming number of vendors that already possess CCHIT® certification will be prepared for the new criteria testing.
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The Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) for Health IT and CMS have pre-released the incentive program’s final regulations and requirements, which will be published in the Federal Register on July 28th, 2010.
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Federal incentives are currently available for ePrescribing and PQRI. Medicare participants can participate in both the EHR and PQRI incentives programs in 2011. However, they cannot “double-dip” between the ePrescribing and EHR program. Medicaid participants can participate in all three incentive programs.
The timeline below illustrates how a practice that begins their EHR implementation immediately will gain the earliest and largest federal EHR incentives. Many practices will overlook the lengthy pre-incentive phases, which must be completed to qualify in this scenario. Generally, the purchasing, implementation, and training phases of an EHR process can take between 3 to 12 months. Beyond that, practices will require time to meet the standards defined by the federal government under the "meaningful EHR user" definition. As the illustration makes clear, there is very little time to wait!
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