The
Stimulus Bill
American
Recovery and Reinvestment
Act
ARRAR
The
section of the American
Recovery and Reinvestment
Act, ARRA, stimulus bill
that applies to Health
Information Technology
is called the Health
Information Technology
for Economic and Clinical
Health Act, the HITECH
Act. It provides money
for the adoption and “meaningful
use” of a “certified” Electronic
Health Record. The money
you can receive for implementing
this is best explained
in the table below:
Incentive
amounts when
HER is in place
by the year listed
in each column
|
Amounts
paid in the following
years
|
2011
|
2012
|
2013
|
2014
|
2015
|
2011
|
$
18,000
|
|
|
|
|
2012
|
$
12,000
|
$
18,000
|
|
|
|
2013
|
$
8,000
|
$
12,000
|
$
15,000
|
|
|
2014
|
$
4,000
|
$
8,000
|
$
12,000
|
$
15,000
|
|
2015
|
$
2,000
|
$
4,000
|
$
8,000
|
$
12,000
|
|
2016
|
|
$
2,000
|
$
4,000
|
$
8,000
|
|
Total
|
$
44,000
|
$
44,000
|
$
39,000
|
$
35,000
|
$
0
|
A
number of terms and conditions
still need to be defined.
How you report that you
are using the EHR in
a meaningful way will
be determined by the
Secretary. The reporting
method has not yet been
announced, but many anticipate
that reporting will be
similar to PQRI reporting.
It is yet to be determined
if the payments will
be in a lump sum per
year or installments.
Up to $63,750 is available
from Medicaid. The bill
is listed at
http://fdsys.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-111hr1ENR/pdf/BILLS-11hr1ENR.pdf
Regarding
a “certified” HER, the
ARRA bill does not specifically
say what body is to provide
certification. At this
point in time, the only
certifying body is the
Certification Commission
for Healthcare Information
Technology, CCHIT, although
there could be one or
more other certifying
organizations in the
future. CCHIT only began
accepting applications
for 2011-2012 ARRA certifications
starting in October,
2009. The 2011-2012 ARRA
certifications is what
the government will require
as certification for
the stimulus money.
According
to the CCHIT web site,
there are two possible
certification programs
for ambulatory EHRs that
will meet the ARRA requirements.
They are the Comprehensive
or a more limited Preliminary
ARRA certification.
“CCHIT
Certified® 2011 products
are inspected against
comprehensive functionality,
interoperability, and
privacy and security
criteria using the Commission’s
published methods and
have been found in full
compliance. These also
meet or exceed applicable”