Registration for the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs is now open.
State Medicaid EHR Readiness appears to delay registration completion in those states at least for Medicaid
CMS has issued three step-by-step guides to registration for the EHR Incentive Programs, each about 20 pages long, for Eligible Hospitals, Professionals Eligible for Medicare, and Professionals Eligible for Medicaid. For hospitals in states which are not yet ready with their Medicaid programs, the guide indicates “your file will be placed into a pending status until your state’s program is launched.” For eligible professionals in states which are not yet ready for Medicaid, they may not be able to register until those states are ready. (The EHR Information Center phone line said eligible professionals in non-ready states would not be able to register for Medicaid programs yet.) Dual-eligible hospitals, who potentially may apply for both Medicare and Medicaid are advised to indicate they will be applying for both Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentives, even if they are not ready at this point.
We strongly recommend reading the applicable guide thoroughly and have all the information required prior to going to register. We expect more clarity to come on some issues noted above in the next few days.
CMS EHR Registration and Attestation Page
Excerpted from CMS site on 1/3/2010:
We encourage providers to register for the Medicare and/or Medicaid EHR Incentive Program(s) as soon as possible. You can register before you have a certified EHR. Register even if you do not have an enrollment record in PECOS.
Register for the Medicare and/or Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs.
Below are step-by-step guides to help you register for EHR Incentive Programs. Choose the guide that fits your needs:
- Registration User Guide for Eligible Professionals – Medicare Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Program.
- Registration User Guide for Eligible Professionals – Medicaid Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Program.
- Registration User Guide for Eligible Hospitals – Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Program.
Editor’s note: Please make sure that PDF Professional Guides are labelled “(12.28.10 ver2)” or later on bottom left of front page. These are updated from what had been originally posted on the morning of 1/3/2010.
Please Note: Although the Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs will begin January 3, 2011, not all states will be ready to participate on this date. Information on when registration will be available for Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs in specific States is posted at Medicaid State Information.
Eligible Professionals:
Eligible professionals eligible for both the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs must choose which incentive program they wish to participate in when they register. Before 2015, an eligible professional may switch programs only once after the first incentive payment is initiated. Most eligible professionals will maximize their incentive payments by participating in the Medicaid EHR Incentive Program.
Editor’s note: We anticipate that this comment on professionals will be updated regarding Medicaid, since it appears Medicaid registration may be delayed until a state’s Medicaid program is ready.
Hospitals:
Editor’s note: Please note this is new language since registering for a state’s Medicaid program appears that it will be delayed until that state’s Medicaid program is ready. Unclear how this impacts dual-eligible hospitals.
If you represent a hospital that meets all of the following qualifications, you are dually-eligible for the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs:
- You are a subsection(d) hospital in the 50 U.S. States or the District of Columbia, or you are a Critical Access Hospital (CAH); and
- You have a CMS Certification Number ending in 0001-0879 or 1300-1399; and
- You have 10% of your patient volume derived from Medicaid encounters.
Hospitals that are eligible for EHR incentive payments under both Medicare and Medicaid should select “Both Medicare and Medicaid” during the registration process, even if they plan to apply only for a Medicaid EHR incentive payment by adopting, implementing, or upgrading certified EHR technology. Dually-eligible hospitals can then attest through CMS for their Medicare EHR incentive payment at a later date, if they so desire.
If you fall into this category, when registering for the program you must choose “Both Medicare & Medicaid”. Please select your state from the drop-down menu on the registration screen. If your state’s program has not yet launched at the time of your registration, your file will be placed into a pending status until your state’s program is launched. That means you will not be able to complete your registration or receive an EHR incentive payment until your state’s program launches. For a list of expected program launch dates, please visit the Medicaid State Information page.
Hospitals that register only for the Medicaid program (or only the Medicare program) will not be able to manually change their registration (i.e., change to “Both Medicare and Medicaid” or from one program to the other) after a payment is initiated and this may cause significant delays in receiving a Medicare EHR incentive payment.
If you represent a hospital that falls into one of the categories below, you are eligible only for the Medicaid EHR Incentive Program:
- Children’s hospitals;
- Cancer hospitals; or
- Acute care hospitals in the U.S. territories.
When registering for the program you should select “Medicaid-only” for your hospital type. You will see a list of states in a drop down menu and you must select a state. Please select your state from the drop-down menu on the registration screen.
If your state’s EHR Incentive Program has not yet launched at the time of your registration, your file will be placed into a pending status until your state’s program launches. That means you will not be able to complete your registration or receive an EHR incentive payment until your state’s program launches. For a list of expected Medicaid EHR Incentive Program launch dates, please visit the Medicaid State Information page.
The Electronic Health Record (EHR) Information Center is open to assist the EHR Provider Community with inquiries.
EHR Information Center Hours of Operation: 7:30 a.m. – 6:30 p.m. (Central Time) Monday through Friday, except federal holidays.
1-888-734-6433 (primary number) or 888-734-6563 (TTY number)
