HITECH ACT
On February 17, 2009 a $787 Billion, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009- “the Stimulus Bill,” was signed into law by the federal government. The law states that $19.2 Billion is intended to be used to increase the use of Electronic Health Records (EHR) by physicians and hospitals; this portion of the bill is called, the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act, or HITECH Act.
New legislation requires physicians who use an electronic health record, or EHR, to “have the ability to track every time (patient) information has been disclosed,” The act also provides funding for, among other things, an EHR infrastructure and technologies to allow for the electronic flow of information; the support of regional and sub-national efforts, towards health information exchange.
|
 |
|
How it affects Physicians/Service Providers
- The HITECH Act would establish payment incentives in the Medicare and Medicaid programs to encourage providers to adopt health information technology (health IT).
- The regulations will give consumers more control over their personal health information.
- The physicians' business associates will be required to fully comply with HIPAA privacy and security rules.
- The regulations is likely to increase the uncertainty, complexity, cost and risk for anyone or any organization who collects, stores, manages or transmits personal health information.
Time Lines to Adopt
Most of the provisions in the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act will not take effect until a year from the Act’s passage, or February 17, 2010.According to the Federal government after 2015, further financial incentives will not be available and penalties will be a 1% reduction in Medicare fees per year, up to 3% by 2017.
Incentive offered
Incentive payments become available in 2011, and end entirely by 2016. Physicians demonstrating meaningful use by 2011 or 2012 may collect a maximum of $44,000 over a 5 year period.
The first row represents the year you adopt an EMR system. The first column represents how much the payout will be each year. For example, if you are a current user, your payout for 2012 will be $12K. If you adopt an EMR system in 2013, your payout will be $15K in 2013, $12k in 2014, and $8K in 2015.
Payout |
Current |
2011 |
2012 |
2013 |
2014 |
2011 |
$18K |
$18K |
― |
― |
― |
2012 |
$12K |
$12K |
$18K |
― |
― |
2013 |
$8K |
$8K |
$12K |
$15K |
― |
2014 |
$4K |
$4K |
$8K |
$12K |
$15K |
2015 |
$2K |
$2K |
$4K |
$8K |
$12K |
2016 |
― |
― |
$2K |
$4K |
$8K |
Total |
$44K |
$44K |
$44K |
$39K |
$35K |
*Those in a shortage area may collect an additional 10% for a total $48,400
* No incentives are available to those adopting after 2014.
Physicians who have not adopted an EHR by 2015 will receive a 1% payment reduction, followed by 2% in 2016 and 3% in 2017.
Incentive payments are also available under Medicaid for providers with a qualifying percentage Medicaid patient volume (30% for acute care clinics, 20% for pediatricians). Physicians must elect to receive either Medicare or Medicaid incentive payments. They may not receive both.
Hospitals can receive a base payment of up to $2M initially. Additional incentives are available according to a formula based on discharges, year of adoption etc., with a cap at $6M. The exact payment schedule is not yet determined.
What Amity Offers
Amity offers free EMR/EHR software to provider on signing Amity Medical Billing Services as part of limited time promotion campaign.
This offer is for limited period and may be withdrawn anytime without any prior notice.
SET-UP DEMO
|
