BACKGROUND
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) enacted on February 17, 2009
is intended to stimulate the economy. Among other provisions, the new law provides major
opportunities for the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), its partner agencies,
and the States to improve the nation’s health care through health information technology
(HIT). To promote the meaningful use of electronic health records (EHR), incentives are
available for eligible entities. For a copy of the full bill, go to:
http://www.hhs.gov/recovery/overview/index.html
The HIT provisions of the Recovery Act are found primarily in Title XIII, Division A,
Health Information Technology, and in Title IV of Division B, Medicare and Medicaid
Health Information Technology. These titles together are cited as the Health Information
Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act or the HITECH Act. Under Title IV,
funding is available to certain eligible professionals (EPs) and hospitals, as described
below. Funds will be distributed through Medicare and Medicaid incentive payments to EPs,
physicians, and hospitals that are "meaningful EHR users."
ARRA also provides for Regional Extension Centers (RECs) to provide outreach, education,
and technical assistance to assist providers in adopting, upgrading, and implementing
Electronic Health Records (EHR) and/or attaining or exceeding meaningful use of certified EHR.
RECs will provide on-site technical assistance.
PROPOSED PROCESS
The process as conceived by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), will
begin when a provider registers with the CMS Registration and Attestation System
and elects consideration for incentives for a given state and program (Medicaid/Medicare).
Then, in the case of a Virginia Medicaid selection, DMAS will be notified by the the
CMS Registration and Attestation System and will then contact the provider to begin
the eligibility process. DMAS projects it will begin reviewing applications in the
first half of 2012.
As part of DMAS' administration of the incentive program, CMS requires the State
to submit for approval a State Medicaid Health Information Technology Plan (SMHP).
This plan describes how DMAS expects to encourage, administer, and monitor
incentive payments to eligible professionals and hospitals. Virginia's SMHP
was conditionally approved on March 7, 2011 (follow link below). Please note
that this plan will be revised as Virginia nears launching its EHR Incentive
Program.
SMHP (Conditionally Approved)
ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA
For an overview of eligibility criteria for the incentives, please follow the link
below:
Eligibility Overview
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Visit the Official CMS Web Site for the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs at:
http://cms.gov/EHrIncentivePrograms/
The above website is updated frequently and contains links to fact sheets, FAQs, and the Final Meaningful Use Rule.
To view ONC Health Information Technology: Initial Set of Standards, Implementation
Specifications, and Certification Criteria for Electronic Health Record Technology;
Interim Final Rule, please visit:
http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/pdf/E9-31216.pdf
To visit the Virginia Department of Health’s Office of HIT please follow this
link:
http://www.hits.virginia.gov/
Contact information for the Regional Extension Center is as follows:
Phone: 1-800-207-7928
Website - http://www.vhqc.org/custom-hit.asp
Email - extensioncenter@vhqc.org
Please direct questions about ARRA Medicaid incentives in Virginia to:
ARRA-Medicaid-Incentives@dmas.virginia.gov