Medicaid Electronic Health Record Incentive Program

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The Wisconsin Medicaid EHR Incentive Program is live and is accepting applications from Eligible Professionals and Hospitals! 

Eligible Hospitals have until September 30th to submit their incentive payment application in order to qualify for a payment during the 2011 Payment Year (hospital Payment Years are based on the Federal Fiscal Year beginning October 1). 

Eligible Professionals have until December 31st to submit their incentive payment application in order to qualify for a payment during the 2011 Payment Year (Eligible Professional Payment Years are based on the calendar year).

For more information on the program please refer to the ForwardHealth Updates for Eligible Professionals and Eligible Hospitals as well as the Resources Page for further trainings, information and assistance.

Overview
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Section 4201) established a program for payment to certain classes of Medicaid professionals and hospitals who adopt and become meaningful users of electronic health records - Medicaid EHR Incentive Program.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) have released several rules to guide the program, integrating it into the broader health information technology infrastructure needed to reform the health care system and improve health care quality, efficiency, and patient safety.

Information on the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs can be found on CMS's web site. (exit dhs)  Administration of the Medicaid EHR Incentive Program is a combined effort of both the States and CMS, visit CMS's web site for a baseline understanding of the program and use the Wisconsin Medicaid EHR Incentive Program web site to find information on Wisconsin specific questions. 

Why an EHR Incentive Program?
The nation's health care system is undergoing a transformation in an effort to improve quality, safety and efficiency of care, from the upgrade to ICD-10 to information exchanges of EHR technology. To help facilitate this vision, the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act, or the "HITECH Act" established programs under Medicare and Medicaid to provide incentive payments for the "meaningful use" of certified EHR technology. David Blumenthal, MD, MPP, explains this in more detail in his article "The "Meaningful Use" Regulation for Electronic Health Records" (exit dhs) published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Register your email to subscribe to updates on the Medicaid EHR Incentive Program.

Last Revised: September 08, 2011