You cannot meet the requirements of “meaningful use” by simply implementing a certified EHR.  Even if your organization implements a certified EHR (when certification bodies are appointed and your EHR vendor passes the certification), this does not get you to meaningful use.  As a matter of fact, you will need to meet at least 20 of the 25 criteria laid out nicely here:http://www.strategicdc.com/the-25-meaningful-use-criteria-for-chiropractic-emr-systems/

Myth: If I have a Multi-Discipline office with a Chiropractor and Physical Therapist which are both eligible for reimbursement for my group/office.

Unless something changes in the near future Physical Therapists are NOT eligible for the reimbursements.  To determine even if your office might be eligible go to the official website by CMS to calculate your possible reimbursement. You might be surprised to find out that you will not be eligible based on the requirements.  Here’s the website:  http://www.cms.gov/apps/ehr/

Myth: The EHR Stimulus bill will reimburse me based on the amount I spend on meeting the requirements of “meaningful use”.

The EHR stimulus Medicare payments will be paid based on 75% of the submitted allowable charges. For example, a doctor’s office which has allowable Medicare charges totalling $24k or more will be eligible to receive the full $18k in EHR stimulus money. A clinic with $10k in allowable Medicare charges would only be eligible for $7.5k in EHR stimulus money.

Myth: The Stimulus payment will be one bulk payment of up to $44,000 depending on how many Medicare patients I see.

The total financial payments that chiropractors are eligible to receive is a maximum of  $44,000 over a 5 year period or equal to 75% of Medicare allowable charges for covered professional services furnished by the chiropractor in an eligible year.  You can ONLY receive as much as $44K if the allowable Medicare charges meet or exceed 24K.  It is based on a sliding scale starting in 2011, but very few doctors will be eligible by then.  If you haven’t already signed through the CMS web-based Registration and Attestation System up then it’s already too late to do so for 2011.  But don’t worry- you will still be eligible for the FULL amount starting in 2012 without any reduction in payments.

Myth:  Being eligible for the stimulus money is a fairly straightforward process and there is very little doubt that I will receive all the money I expect so long as I follow a few simple steps.

Unfortunately, there is nothing simple about this process and even if you do everything right there is still a chance that you will not receive any money.  Only time will tell who ends up getting payments, how much the payments will be, and how long the stimulus money will last.

Useful Links:

http://www.cms.gov/apps/ehr/ 

http://www.emrandhipaa.com/emr-and-hipaa/2009/02/23/many-doctors-wont-see-ehr-stimulus-money/ 

http://hitechacthelp.com/2010/04/26/myths-about-meaningful-use/

http://www.strategicdc.com/the-25-meaningful-use-criteria-for-chiropractic-emr-systems/