Podcast: Meaningful Use and Radiology

Did you know that more than 90 percent of radiologists are eligible to qualify for incentive payments under the federal government’s meaningful use EHR program? If you can show you are meaningfully using an EHR, you may qualify for up to $44,000. In a few years, that incentive will become a penalty for eligible providers who aren’t participating.

So what do you need to do cash in?

In this podcast, Paul Merrild, Senior Vice President of Solutions Management for Merge Healthcare, explains the program and where radiologists fit in.

Here’s a short list of steps your practice can take to achieve meaningful use, courtesy of Merge. 

Step 1: Assess your eligibility

Determine your eligibility using the Meaningful Use Practice Analyzer here. The application will help you determine your eligibility, practice-specific technical requirements, as well as understand the financial impact of the incentive programs. You will need to supply the following information:
• Number of radiologists
• Total annual CMS revenue
• Meaningful Use data collection start date
• What percentage of your CMS volume is inpatient hospital?
• What percentage of your CMS volume is emergency room?
• Does the group practice in an HPSA (health professional shortage area)?
• Which certified technologies do you plan to use to achieve Meaningful Use?

Step 2: Review the Meaningful Use criteria

All eligible professionals who are participating in the EHR Incentive Program will need to meet the 15 core objectives and five of the 10 menu set objectives, unless exempt.

Step 3: Manage Change in Your Organization

• Now
- Register as an eligible professional in the CMS system at https://ehrincentives.com.gov. You do not need to have your technology in place to register. You will need:
     - Social Security Number
     - National Provider Identifier (NPI) and National Plan and Provider Enumeration System (NPPES) user ID and password. If you do not have these, the system will provide instructions to apply for an NPI and/or create an NPPES account.
     - Medicare or Medicaid program selection (see criteria in the FAQ)
     - The Group Payee NPI if you elect to have your payment sent to someone besides yourself
     - Business address, phone number and e-mail address
- Understand how you plan to approach the MU objectives and when you want to start your 90 day reporting period.

• When you are ready to start your Meaningful Use reporting
- Add Meaningful Use functionality
- Add Meaningful Use modules
- Complete Meaningful Use training

• 2012
- Collect at least 90 consecutive days of data within the calendar year
- Submit data for attestation no later than February, 28, 2013. To register for your reimbursement, you must attest (legally state) through Medicare’s Secure Web site that you demonstrated Meaningful Use with certified EHR technology.