What types of health care providers can qualify for HITECH incentives?

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) details that the following all qualify for HITECH incentives:

• Hospitals
• Skilled nursing facilities
• Nursing facilities
• Home health entities
• Long term care facilities
• Health care clinics
• Community mental health centers
• Renal dialysis facilities
• Blood centers
• Ambulatory surgical centers
• Emergency medical service providers
• Federally qualified health centers (FQHC)
• Group practices
• Pharmacists
• Laboratories
• Physicians (See below)
• Practitioners (See below)
• Indian Health Service providers
• Rural health clinics
• Therapists

Who is an Eligible Professional under the Medicare EHR Incentive Program?

Eligible professionals under the Medicare EHR Incentive Program include:

• Doctor of medicine or osteopathy
• Doctor of dental surgery or dental medicine
• Doctor of podiatry
• Doctor of optometry
• Chiropractor

Who is an eligible professional under the Medicaid EHR Incentive Program?

• Physicians (primarily doctors of medicine and doctors of osteopathy)
• Nurse practitioner
• Certified nurse-midwife
• Dentist
• Physician assistant who furnishes services in a Federally Qualified Health Center or Rural Health Clinic that is led by a physician assistant

To qualify for an incentive payment under the Medicaid EHR Incentive Program, an eligible professional must meet one of the following criteria:

• Have a minimum 30% Medicaid patient volume*
• Have a minimum 20% Medicaid patient volume, and is a pediatrician*
• Practice predominantly in a Federally Qualified Health Center or Rural Health Center and have a minimum 30% patient volume attributable to needy individuals

* Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) patients do not count toward the Medicaid patient volume criteria.

Which geographic areas qualify for HITECH incentives?

ARRA specifies the following regions and territories as qualifying for HITECH incentives:

• All 50 US states
• The District of Columbia
• Puerto Rico
• The Virgin Islands
• Guam
• American Samoa
• The Northern Mariana Islands

What types of medical practices do not qualify for HITECH incentives?

The following types of practices do not qualify for incentives based on our current understanding of the program:

• Free clinics that don’t bill Medicare or Medicaid
• Physical therapists
• Hospital-based physicians such as pathologists, anesthesiologists or emergency physicians
• Acupuncturists and other holistic providers
• Any practice not eligible for Medicare or Medicaid payments