Skip to main content

Understanding EHR Incentive Programs -Avontix



The Electronic Health Records (EHR) Incentive Programs provides incentive payments to eligible professionals if they fulfill the meaningful use of certified EHR technology. The purpose of these incentive programs is to support and encourage healthcare providers in the days of transition from paper records to digital records in the healthcare industry. These programs are meant to incorporate the use of electronic health records in meaningful methods to help the US government to improve the quality, safety and efficiency of healthcare for patients.

Meaningful use: Meaningful use is the usage of certified electronic health record technology to 


  1. Improve quality, safety, efficiency and reduce health disparities
  2. Engage patients and family
  3. Improve care coordination and public health
  4. Maintain privacy and security of patient health information



The purpose of meaningful use is to make sure that complying with certified electronic health records will result in:

  1. Better clinical outcomes
  2. Improved population health outcomes
  3. Increased transparency and efficiency
  4. Empowered individuals
  5. More robust research data on health systems



The meaningful use has set some specific objectives that have to be achieved by eligible professionals and hospitals to qualify for CMS incentive programs.

Eligible Professionals:

Eligible professionals under the Medicare EHR incentive programs include – Doctor of medicine or osteopathy, Doctor of dental surgery or dental medicine, Doctor of podiatry, Doctor of optometry, and chiropractors.

Eligible professionals under the Medicaid EHR incentive programs include – physicians, nurse practitioner, certified nurse-midwife, dentist, physician assistant who provides services in a Federally Qualified Health Center or Rural Health clinic led by a physician assistant.

The final rule published by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) specifies the criteria that should be met by the eligible professionals and eligible hospitals to be able to participate in the Medicare & Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs. 

The EHR incentives programs consist of three stages:


  • Stage 1 sets the foundation for the EHR incentives programs by giving requirements for the capture of data electronically
  • Stage 2 encouraged the certified electronic health records technology for the improvement at the point of care and transfer of information in a structured format.
  • Stage 3 is from 2017 and afterward with the focus on the usage of certified electronic health records technology to improve the health results.


The electronic health records are playing a very crucial role in the US healthcare industry, thereby increasing job opportunities for healthcare technicians. Avontix is one of the best providers of EHR solutions in Hyderabad that provides its services to the US healthcare providers.

Visit: Avontix

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Rules and Regulations that Govern Healthcare Documentation -Avontix

Picture courtesy: Google Images Healthcare documentation as the name suggests deals with the documentation of healthcare procedures and treatments provided to a patient. As a way to minimize the workload of physicians in documenting their processes in providing healthcare to patients, healthcare documentation plays a critical role in the healthcare industry and gives the physicians much-needed extra time to spend on looking at a more number patients. For the people in healthcare documentation jobs, it is not just sufficient to master the English language skills and medical terminology to be able to do their work efficiently. There are certain points related to the federal rules and regulations that are to be taken care of while transcribing the data accurately within the set time limits. Professional healthcare documentation specialists are expected to be aware of these legal requirements and act accordingly. Confidentiality of patient information: Medical details of a...

Patient Access and its Link to Increased Revenue -Avontix

Picture courtesy:  patient.info For a health organization to enjoy a good financial position, its revenue cycle management should be efficient enough to bring in timely payments for the claims submitted and collect the amount due from patients. When either the claims submitted are denied or patients are not paying their dues, it results in unpaid collections and bad debts for the healthcare provider.  One of the ways to reduce revenue losses is having smart patient access. By providing smart patient access, healthcare facilities can see reduced claim denials and improve their revenue cycle management performance. To be able to do this, the RCM services professionals have to collect all the necessary information at the registration process itself. Usually, patients feel that all the work related to registration process is time-consuming and unnecessarily delays the diagnosis and treatment procedure. However, hospital registration process is very critical to colle...

Good Listening Skills Lead to Effective Communication - Avontix

Picture courtesy: toolshero.com T o engage in effective communication, one needs to listen properly and respond. We all know there’s a difference between hearing and listening. When a sound is sensed by the ears, hearing happens; this doesn’t require any special efforts. However, listening happens only when we consciously put efforts to understand the meaning of the words.This requires concentration on what others are saying. Listening by itself requires efforts, so one can understand that listening well requires much more efforts and concentration. To be able to mingle with others easily and actively participate in conversations, it is important that we listen well. Many people wrongly assume that if they are not talking much and letting others do the talking, they are good listeners. What happens in such cases is that they might be hearing to what others say rather than listening well. Listening is an art in itself that needs the practice to perfect. Here are some pointers...