HHS Publishes Proposed Rule for Electronic Health Record Incentive Program

HHS published today in the Federal Register:  “Medicare and Medicaid Programs–Electronic Health Record Incentive Program; Proposed Rule.”  75 FR 1844-2011.  Comments on this Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) may be submitted to HHS no later than March 15, 2010.  Here is the Summary from the NPRM:

“This proposed rule would implement the provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA)(Public Law 111-5) that provide incentive payments to eligible professionals (EPs) and eligible hospitals participating in Medicare and Medicaid programs that adopt and meaningfully use certified electronic health record (EHR) technology.  The proposed rule would specify the initial criteria an EP and eligible hospital must meet in order to qualify for the incentive payment; calculation of the incentive payment amounts; payment adjustments under Medicare for covered professional services and inpatient hospital services provided by EPs and eligible hospitals failing to meaningfully use certified EHR technology; and other program participation requirements.  Also, as required by ARRA, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) will be issuing a closely related interim final rule [75 FR 2013-2047] that specifies the Secretary’s adoption of an initial set of standards, implementation specifications, and certification criteria for electronic health records.  ONC will also be issuing a notice of proposed rulemaking on the process for organizations to conduct the certification of EHR technology.” [01/13/10]  This NPRM is available online here.