PPM Pages June 2011

Physicians using Encite, Inc.’s Electronic Health Record (EHR) have announced receipt of the Stage 1 government incentive funding, totaling $18,000 per physician, as part of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) EHR Meaningful Use Medicare Incentive Program.  In order to qualify for the Federal stimulus funds, eligible professionals must demonstrate they are “meaningful users” of a certified EHR technology. As part of the certification process, Encite passed a comprehensive inspection of its platform’s quality, integrated functionality and reporting abilities conducted by Drummond Group Inc., an ONC Authorized and Testing Certification Body.

Precision has been supporting the Encite EHR software as one of its preferred EHR technology platforms for many years and is pleased to share this exciting news.

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In order to avoid the 1% reduction in 2012 Medicare rates, physicians are required to ePrescribe on 10 Medicare encounters by tomorrow, June 30th, 2011, unless they fall within an exemption. 

Physicians who will not be able to satisfy the requirement in time may apply for one of the following exemptions by October 1 of this year:

• The practice is located in a rural area without high-speed internet access.
• The practice is located in an area without sufficient pharmacies for ePrescribing.
• The practice is registered to participate in the Medicare or Medicaid EHR Incentive Program and has adopted certified EHR technology.
• The practice is unable to electronically prescribe due to local, state or federal law or regulation.
• The practice prescribes infrequently.
• There are insufficient opportunities to report the ePrescribing measure due to program limitations.

If you will not be able to meet the ePrescribing requirements by tomorrow, but want to avoid the penalty, please contact Precision about its certified EHR technology offerings as soon as possible.

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By ePrescribing 25 times, you can also earn the 1% ePrescribing incentive in 2011.  Please remember, however, you will not be able to obtain incentives from both the Medicare ePrescribing and the Medicare EHR incentive programs simultaneously. You may participate in the Medicaid EHR incentive program and still qualify for incentives under the ePrescribing program..

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