Meaningful Use Consulting
Go Paperless and Get Paid
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) authorizes the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to award incentive payments to eligible professionals who demonstrate Meaningful Use of a certified electronic health record (EHR).
These incentive programs will not always be available, and financial penalties are scheduled to take effect in 2015 for Medicare and Medicaid providers who do not transition to EHRs.
The table below provides an overview of the EHR incentive payment timeline for eligible health care professionals.
Medicare EHR Incentive Timeline:
| Incentive Payment Year |
Adopt In 2011: 5-Year Payout |
Adopt In 2012: 5-Year Payout |
Adopt In 2013: 4-Year Payout |
Adopt In 2014: 3-Year Payout |
Penalty For Not Adopting |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | $18,000 | |||||||||
| 2012 | $12,000 | $18,000 | ||||||||
| 2013 | $8,000 | $12,000 | $15,000 | |||||||
| 2014 | $4,000 | $8,000 | $12,000 | $12,000 | ||||||
| 2015 | $2,000 | $4,000 | $8,000 | $8,000 | -1% | |||||
| 2016 | $2,000 | $4,000 | $4,000 | -2% | ||||||
| 2017 | -3% | |||||||||
| Total Incentive Payout |
$44,000 | $44,000 | $39,000 | $24,000 |