Qualifying for Incentive Payments for Meaningful Use of Health Care IT for Radiologists: Practical Initial Steps

Abstract

The last installment of “Bits and Bytes” [1] described some of the basic components of “meaningful use” (MU), briefly outlining the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act signed by President Obama into law in February 2009 and its broad goal of helping improve health care by accelerating the adoption and use of health care IT (HIT) [2]. To achieve this goal, the federal government will provide short-term CMS incentive payments to eligible providers (EPs) who become meaningful users of certified HIT and, ultimately, CMS penalties for EPs who do not meet the requirements of MU [3]. Meaningful use will be implemented in 3 phases, with phase 1 beginning in 2011, phase 2 beginning in 2013, and phase 3 beginning in 2015. Although phase 1 requirements have been issued, the requirements for the later phases have not yet been established. The maximum potential CMS financial incentive per EP is $44,000 over 5 years. Radiologists are EPs for MU and the ACR estimates that more than 85% of radiologists will qualify for incentive payments. This means that radiologists are also eligible for later financial penalties if they do not become meaningful users of certified HIT by 2015. Below, we suggest some practical initial steps you should take in your practice to prepare to qualify for MU. The initial question is whether your practice should plan to qualify for MU. The maximum potential financial incentive per EP ($44,000 over 5 years) seems substantial at first glance. However, it is highly unlikely that these incentive payments will provide adequate resources to acquire and implement the technology and process changes necessary for radiologists who qualify for MU over the next 5 years. Thus, MU can be best seen as a partially funded federal mandate. Despite the inadequacy of the resources provided by CMS for MU, the ambiguity of phase 1 MU requirements, and the uncertainty of future MU requirements, we believe that it is important for radiologists to work diligently to qualify as meaningful users of HIT. Health care reform is a major national priority, and HIT provides crucial tools to improve the quality and efficiency of health care services. Radiology as a specialty has historically been a leader in the adoption of IT tools. But recognizing that the promise of HIT has yet to be fully realized, as physicians and citizens, we must do our part to qualify for phase 1 MU requirements. Perhaps even more important, we must actively participate in the process of defining phase 2 and phase 3 MU requirements relevant to our specialty. Below are some specific initial steps you can take to prepare to qualify for MU requirements.