The CMS EHR Incentive Program

The EHR Incentive Program provides incentive payments of up to $44,000 to eligible professionals, eligible hospitals, and critical access hospitals (CAHs) as they adopt, implement, upgrade, or demonstrate meaningful use of certified EHR technology.

Qualified physicians seeing Medicare patients can receive up to $44,000 over the course of 5 years.  To get the maximum incentive payment, Medicare eligible professionals must begin participation by 2012. An overview of the payout schedule is in the table below.

In the table, the first row indicates the year you adopt an EHR system. The first column represents how much the payout will be each year.  For example, if you are a current user, your payout for 2012 will be $12,000.  If you adopt an EHR system in 2013, your payout will be $15,000 in 2013, $12,000 in 2014, and $8,000 in 2015.

Payout	Current	2011	2012	2013	2014
2011	$18K	$18K	-	-	-
2012	$12K	$12K	$18K	-	-
2013	$  8K	$  8K	$12K	$15K	-
2014	$  4K	$  4K	$  8K	$12K	$15K
2015	$  2K	$  2K	$  4K	$  8K	$12K
2016	-	-	$  2K	$  4K	$  8K
Total	$44K	$44K	$44K	$39K	$35K

Note: If you adopt an EHR system in 2015 or later, Medicare eligible professionals, eligible hospitals, and CAHs that do not successfully demonstrate meaningful use will have a payment adjustment in their Medicare reimbursement.

For additional information and to determine your eligibility, please visit the CMS EHR Incentive website: http://www.cms.gov/EHRIncentivePrograms