By: Marlene McCurdy PhD, PMP®, Practice Manager
A brief review of the HITECH Act of ARRA:
- February, 2009, President Obama signed the ARRA to improve the nation’s health care through HIT by promoting meaningful use of electronic health technology
- On July 16, 2009 the HIT Policy Committee (a part of DHHS) adopted a definition of “meaningful use” and recommended high level criteria for the certification process. On July 21, 2009 the HIT Standards Committee met and discussed the differences between the requirements for “meaningful use” and for “certification.” Now, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will consider the recommendations from both committees and draft regulations that will be released in December, 2009.
- As part of the President’s Stimulus Plan, funding for those providers (hospitals and individual providers) will become available beginning in 2011 through 2015 for those who are able to demonstrate meaningful use for a year prior to eligibility for funding. For example, to obtain funding in 2010, the provider must show meaningful use in 2009.
- It is estimated that an average of $4M to $6M will be available for hospitals; and $44,000 per individual provider in a provider practice (excluding the care provided primarily in hospital). Funding will be front-loaded, meaning that more dollars will be provided to eligible hospitals/providers in earlier years, with decelerating payments through 2015. If providers/hospitals are not compliant with meaningful use by 2015, CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) will impose financial penalties by reducing reimbursements. (Chart credited to John Lynn at www.emrandhipaa.com).
Example of Individual Physician Reimbursements Available Per Year
| Adopt 2011 | Adopt 2012 | Adopt 2013 | Adopt 2014 | Adopt 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 | $ -- |
| | | | | |
Example of Hospital Reimbursements Available Per Year
| | Adopt 2011 | Adopt 2012 | Adopt 2013 | Adopt 2014 | Adopt 2015+ |
| 2011 | $1,256,733 | $ -- | $ -- | $ -- | $ -- |
| 2012 | $942,550 | $1,256,733 | $ -- | $ -- | $ -- |
| 2013 | $628,367 | $942,550 | $1,256,733 | $ -- | $ -- |
| 2014 | $314,183 | $628,367 | $942,550 | $942,550 | $ -- |
| 2015 | $ -- | $314,183 | $628,367 | $628,367 | $628,367 |
| 2016 | $ -- | $ -- | $314,183 | $314,183 | $314,183 |
| Total | $3,143,844 | $3,143,844 | $3,143,844 | $1,887,114 | $944,565 |
| | | | | |
More details on the comprehensive act can be reviewed at www.cms.hhs.gov.
Financial Incentives for Acting Now
There is a financial incentive for hospitals and physician practices to move ahead now to establish meaningful use of their HIT well ahead of the 2010 deadline. You may be curious, though, of how providers can move forward with information technology while the definition of meaningful use is still in flux. Although the definition is not final, the HIT Policy Committee published initial recommendations, identifying 22 objectives that will qualify as meaningful use. (Source: www.HealthIT.hhs.gov) Among those recommendations are several broad areas that can be acted upon immediately, regardless of the final definition since it is clear that aspects of these must be implemented and in use to be eligible for ARRA funding.
- Use of a Certification Commission for HIT (CCHIT) Electronic Medical Record (EMR) application. Many vendors are upgrading their releases to meet certification standards.
- Ability to share information outside of the hospital/physician practice (referred to as Health Information Exchange – HIE – technology). For example, funding will be considered based on the organization’s ability to send information to national registries for quality comparisons.
- Ability to measure and report on patient safety, quality and outcomes. Although the ruling is not yet available on how healthcare providers obtain funding, it will likely be based on these factors.
- Full implementation of CPOE, with which many of us are very familiar. Seemingly, an obvious prerequisite given patient safety and quality thought to be inherent in CPOE environments, hospitals are still slow to adopt the practice. According to the HIMSS Analytics™ Database© 2009, only 2.5% of hospitals have adopted CPOE and Clinical Decision Support as of 2008, primarily leaving ancillaries (lab, radiology, pharmacy), data repositories, medical vocabularies, document imaging and, to a lesser extent, minimal clinical documentation, accounting for most of the clinical automation statistics.
How Can Vitalize Consulting Solutions Create Value Now for Hospitals Who Wish to Take Advantage of ARRA Funding? Contact us at vcs@getvitalized.com or 610.444.1233 to find out.