HomeTown Health and GA-HITEC Partnership Help Georgia’s Rural Hospitals Receive $75 Million in Meaningful Use Dollars
(PRWEB) February 17, 2014 -- HomeTown Health and the Georgia Health Information Technology Extension Center (GA-HITEC), Georgia's federally endorsed health information technology center, are pleased to announce that of the 56 Georgia hospitals enrolled in the REC program, 82% have successfully met meaningful use of electronic health records. Of these 46 hospitals, 43 have been paid at least one meaningful use payment totaling more than $75,000,000.00.
The Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs provide financial incentives for the “meaningful use” of certified EHR technology to improve patient care. To receive an EHR incentive payment, providers have to show that they are “meaningfully using” their EHRs by meeting thresholds for a number of objectives. CMS has established the objectives for “meaningful use” that eligible professionals, eligible hospitals, and critical access hospitals (CAHs) must meet in order to receive an incentive payment.
The Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs are staged in three steps with increasing requirements for participation. All providers begin participating by meeting the Stage 1 requirements for a 90-day period in their first year of meaningful use and a full year in their second year of meaningful use. After meeting the Stage 1 requirements, providers will then have to meet Stage 2 requirements for two full years. Eligible professionals participate in the program on the calendar years, while eligible hospitals and CAHs participate according to the federal fiscal year.
HomeTown Health is the partner who has worked with GA-HITEC to provide outreach and education to rural hospitals. Monthly Health IT webinars and Attestation Support Sessions, the GA-HITEC Online Training Center with courses developed from the Office of National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) Workforce Curriculum program, Certified Health Information Technology Professional certifications, and live training events were developed to assist the hospitals in their journey to meaningful use and navigating the health IT landscape.
For more information about GA-HITEC visit http://ga-hitec.org, email info(at)ga-hitec(dot)org or, phone 1-877-658-1990. For more information about HomeTown Health or HomeTown Health University, visit http://www.hometownhealthonline.com or http://www.hthu.net.
Meghan Williams, HomeTown Health, LLC, +1 229.308.4996, [email protected]
Share this article