Medicaid Incentives

The Medicaid EHR Incentive Program

The Medicaid EHR Incentive Program provides incentive payments to eligible professionals, eligible hospitals, and CAHs as they adopt, implement or upgrade a certified EHR in their first year of participation and demonstrate meaningful use for up to five remaining participation years.

The Medicaid EHR Incentive Program is voluntarily offered by individual states and territories. See below for information about Vermont's program.
Eligible professionals can receive up to $63,750 over the six years that they choose to participate in the program.
Eligible hospital incentive payments may begin as early as 2011, depending on when the state begins its program. The last year a Medicaid eligible hospital may begin the program is 2016. Hospital payments are based on a number of factors, beginning with a $2 million base payment.
There are no payment adjustments under the Medicaid EHR Incentive Program.

The table below illustrates the payments available in the Medicaid EHR Incentive Program.

Vermont's Program is Underway

Eligible professionals and hospitals in Vermont can initiate the process of receiving Medicaid EHR incentive payments. Eligible professionals can receive up to $21,250 in the first year of the program.

This is a two-step process:

Step One: Professionals and hospitals meeting eligibility requirements and enrolled as a Vermont Medicaid provider must first register with the CMS Incentive Program Registration and Attestation System.

To successfully register, an eligible professional will need the following:

an active National Provider Identifier (NPI)
a National Plan and Provider Enumeration System (NPPES) web user account
a tax ID number
a CMS EHR certification number from the ONC Certified Health IT Product List

Additional information about completing Step One is in the Medicaid Eligible Professional Registration User Guide.

Step Two: The subsequent step of completing the incentive payment application on the Vermont portal can begin following notification that the CMS registration has been completed. After an eligible professional is registered in the federal system, he or she will receive an email with information about using Vermont's MAPIR (Medical Assistance Provider Incentive Repository) system to finish the process of attesting and receiving payment. A Vermont Green Mountain Care Internet Portal user ID and password will be needed to log in.

In MAPIR, an eligible professional enters information to demonstrate that he or she:

Meets Medicaid patient volume thresholds
Is adopting, implementing or upgrading a federally certified EHR system
Meets all other federal program requirements
Has proof of purchase of a federally certified EHR system

In the Medicaid program, first-year incentives can be paid out if an EHR is on order and has not yet been installed. Eligible professionals must submit some type of proof of purchase, such as a receipt, invoice, contract, purchase order, etc.

In the first year, eligible professionals will only attest to adopting, implementing or upgrading. There is no EHR reporting period in year one for Medicaid.

Additional information about the Medicaid EHR Incentive Program is available through the Vermont Health Care Reform site.

How Does VITL Fit In?

VITL has been named by the federal government as a regional extension center (REC), and we are the only one serving Vermont. One of the primary tasks of a REC is to help eligible professionals in a geographic area understand the rules for the EHR incentives and assist them in achieving meaningful use of EHRs so that they qualify for incentive payments. For more information on how VITL can help, see the Why VITL section of this website.

Click here to sign up for VITL's regional extension center services.

If you have questions about meaningful use or require additional information, please contact Larry Gilbert at 802-839-1943 or email lgilbert@vitl.net.