MEDICAID HEALTH INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (HIT)

Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Payments

Utah Medicaid is participating in the Medicaid Health Information Technology (HIT) Incentive Payment Program. This program is supported through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

On September 14, 2011, the Utah Department of Health, Division of Medicaid and Health Financing, received approval from CMS regarding the State Medicaid Health Information Technology Plan (SMHP). This allows Utah to make Electronic Health Record (EHR) incentive payments to eligible* Medicaid providers and hospitals as they adopt, implement, upgrade, or demonstrate meaningful use of certified EHR technology.

*An Eligible Provider (EP) includes: MD's, DO's, DDS's, CNM's, NP's, and PA's practicing in a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) or Rural Health Clinic (RHC) that is led by a PA. Hospital-based EPs may not participate. An EP is considered hospital-based if 90% or more of the EP's services are performed in a hospital inpatient or emergency room setting. Under the rules of the program, you may register individually or as a group.

Medicaid EPs must meet patient volume criteria, providing services to those who are Medicaid eligible or, in some cases, needy individuals. Eligible professionals and groups must demonstrate 30% Medicaid patient volumes; (20% for pediatrics) for a representative 90-day period in the previous calendar year. In order to use the group volumes, all practitioners must agree to use the group volumes to determine eligibility to participate in the program. If one provider in the group chooses to use individual patient volumes rather than the group volumes, all other providers must also use individual patient volumes.

Participants are required to use EHR technology, certified specifically for the EHR Incentive Program. You will need to verify that your system is on the list from ONC and obtain your CHPL certification identification number.

To get started, you must first register with CMS. More information and resources to assist you in eligibility determination and patient volumes is available on the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs Website.

The Utah attestation system for payment year 1 - Stage 1 Adopt, Implement or Upgrade (AIU) and payment year 2 - Stage 1 Meaningful Use (MU) for Eligible Professionals and Eligible Hospitals is OPEN. Click HERE for access to the HIT/EHR Incentives Provider User Manual and step-by-step instructions.

Other Important Links Below:

Meaningful Use Criteria - HealthInsight
Meaningful Use and USIIS
ELR Stage 1 MU Implementation Guide
Syndromic Surveillance MU Implementation
Syndromic Surveillance Reporting for Utah State Providers
UDOH Statement on Meaningful Use Public Health Reporting: Eligible Providers, Eligible Hospitals
Utah HIT Consortium
CMS-ONC Press Release
HealthInsight - Utah's Regional Extension Center (REC)
Utah Health Information Network (UHIN) The Clinical Health Information Exchange (cHIE)
Frequently Asked Questions (FaQs)
Health IT for You

For questions or concerns, please call the HIT/EHR Hotline number at: 1-801-538-6929 or send an e-mail to: EHRIncentive@utah.gov. Business hours: Monday - Friday, 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., closed on all state and federal holidays.