Medi-Cal Announces Start Date for EHR Incentive Program

Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA, or the "Stimulus Act"), physicians are eligible for financial incentives for demonstrating "meaningful use" of an electronic health record (EHR) system. Medi-Cal providers who meet certain patient volume thresholds will qualify for up to $63,750 paid out over six years, beginning as early as 2011 or as late as 2016.

In the first year that a physician is enrolled in the incentive program, he or she can receive up to $21,250 for purchasing, implementing or upgrading an EHR system. Physicians will not have to demonstrate "meaningful use" until their second year in the program.

Accessing these incentives will require a two-part enrollment. Physicians must first register with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) at https://ehrincentives.cms.gov. They must then enroll in the Medi-Cal Incentive Program at http://medi-cal.ehr.ca.gov.

Physicians qualify for incentives if:

• Medi-Cal patients make up at least 30 percent of their patient volume.
• They are a pediatrician with at least a 20 percent Medi-Cal patient volume. (However, pediatricians with 20 to 30 percent Medi-Cal patient volume only qualify for two thirds of the total incentive.)
• They practice in a federally qualified health center, rural health center, or Indian health clinic and at least 30 percent of their patient volume is "needy individuals," such as Medi-Cal, Healthy Families, sliding scale, or uncompensated care.

For more information on the Medi-Cal EHR Incentive Program, see http://medi-cal.ehr.ca.gov. Additional information on the Medi-Cal and Medicare EHR incentive programs, and other CMA HIT resources, is available at /hit.