Louisiana Will Offer Incentive Payments to Medicaid Providers for Electronic Health Records

Louisiana is among the first states to offer incentive payments to Medicaid providers and hospitals for adopting, implementing or upgrading electronic health record (EHR) technology to treat patients more efficiently, reduce their administrative work and share health information securely among medical facilities.

Under the Louisiana Medicaid EHR Incentive Program, which the Department of Health and Hospitals will launch Monday, Jan. 3, 2011, eligible Medicaid physicians and other health care providers could receive up to $63,750 in incentive payments over a six-year period. Eligible providers include physicians (primarily doctors of medicine or osteopathy), nurse practitioners, certified nurse-midwives, dentists and physician assistants practicing in federally qualified health centers or rural health clinics led by a physician assistant. Providers can receive incentive payments in the first year for adopting EHR in their practices, and then are eligible for an additional five years of incentive payments if they demonstrate meaningful use of EHR. Children's hospitals and acute care hospitals that treat Medicaid patients are also eligible for incentive payments. Hospital incentive payments are based on many factors, but begin with a $2 million base payment.

Louisiana Medicaid received federal funding for this program through the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health, or HITECH, Act, which established programs under Medicare and Medicaid encouraging health care providers to adopt and effectively use EHR and health information technology.

Providers and hospitals interested in the Louisiana Medicaid EHR Incentive Program should visit the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) eligibility page to determine if they meet the requirements for participation. Eligible providers and hospitals also must be certified to use EHR technology. The Louisiana Health Care Quality Forum is offering this certification through its Louisiana Health Information Technology Center. Providers should contact the center at rec@lhcqf.org to inquire about training and certification.

Instructions on enrolling for the program are available at the Louisiana Medicaid EHR Incentive Payment Program site. To obtain payment, eligible providers or hospitals first must register with the National Level Repository through the CMS site. After completing the CMS registration, eligible participants will be directed to the Louisiana Medicaid Web site to complete the application process. State Medicaid program staff will contact eligible providers and hospitals to complete their enrollment after receiving and processing the registration information from CMS.

To learn more about the Louisiana Medicaid EHR Incentive Payment Program, visit the program Web site, call 225-342-4810, or e-mail ehrincentives@la.gov.