EHRs are the holy grail of medicine. They promise to increase efficiency, improve quality, and ultimately reduce costs.
And of course there are the new governmental incentives – and penalties.
Starting next year, physicians who meet government qualifications demonstrating “meaningful use” of EHRs in their practices stand to gain up to $44K in Medicare or $64K in Medicaid reimbursement, payable over a five year period.
Four years later, in 2015, physicians will start receiving reimbursement penalties if they don’t start “meaningful use” of EHRs.
Does this mean you should rush head long into an EHR system?
It certainly seems so. Never before – and probably never again – will the federal government (or anyone else) be ready, willing, and able to foot the bill for you.
Here’s the breakdown on the governmental incentives and penalties for your reference (please note, these are for physicians and physician groups. Hospitals have different reimbursement incentives):
Medicare EHR Meaningful Use Incentives
- 2011 — $18K
- 2012 –$12K
- 2013 –$8K
- 2014– $4K
- 2015– $2K
Medicare EHR Meaningful Use Penalties
- 2015 – 1% of reimbursements
- 2016 – 2% of reimbursements
- 2017 – 3% of reimbursements
The reimbursement penalty will stand at 3% for each year following 2017, unless the Department of Health and Human Services secretary decides to continue decreasing it – and less than 75% of professionals who are eligible are meaningful users of EHRs. Limited significant hardship exceptions can be made up until 2019.
Usually it takes time for an EHR system to recoup itself in terms of cost savings to the business to cover initial and ongoing cash outlay. But the government – for a limited time only – is speeding up the timeframe for you. According to a Healthcare Technology Online article (“How Much Will an EHR System Cost You?” Ken Congdon), an EHR system can take an average of three to five years to implement – at a cost of $3.5 to $40K. And the government’s incentives will more than cover it, provided you qualify at the right time.
Change can be difficult, I understand. But when someone else is paying for it… and it costs you money not to do it? It’s time to get serious about making the switch to an EHR system. EHRs are here to stay – and payers, most notably, the U.S. government, are only going to get more insistent about electronic billing.
Truly, with thousands of dollars in incentives to be had, about the only scenario that could possibly keep you from leaping on the EHR bandwagon is time until retirement.
Obviously, if you are close to retirement it may not be the time to make a huge cash outlay – especially if you can’t recoup it when you sell your practice. Although there is something to be said for EHR system’s increasing value to the practice, it’s uncertain how that translates in actual dollars.
One last thing to remember: To qualify for those Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements, you must prove you are using your EHR system in a “meaningful way.”
What is that? According to some sources, “meaningful EHR use” equates to using electronic prescribing, exchanging data with other providers, and quality data reporting to CMS. So consider all of these factors when evaluating and implementing an EHR system. – Jen Gilbert
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