Incentives for Meaningful Users
ARRA 2009 authorizes the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to provide reimbursement incentives for eligible professionals and hospitals who are successful in becoming "meaningful users" of Certified Electronic Health Record (EHR) technology. Starting in 2015, providers are expected to have adopted and be actively utilizing a certified EHR in compliance with the "meaningful use" definition or they will be subject to financial penalties under Medicare.
The focus on meaningful use is a recognition that better health care does not come solely from the adoption of technology itself but through the exchange and use of health information to best inform clinical decisions at the point of care.
What is Meaningful Use?
It has not been defined as yet. CMS is working closely with the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT and other parts of HHS to develop regulations that will govern the initial year of the incentives programs, including a definition of meaningful use for 2011. The proposed rule, with a 60-day period for public comment, is targeted for publication in late 2009.
Read our following blogs on Meaningful Use of EHR: