Certified Electronic Health Record Technology Under the Quality Payment Program

Excerpt

1. •

   The quality payment program (QPP) is a value-based care reimbursement system for Medicare providers.

2. •

   For full reimbursement and performance success, the QPP requires practices to fully adopt certified electronic health record technology (CEHRT). CEHRT adoption is a requirement on its own, and related to other QPP requirements such as practice improvement activities and the reporting of quality measures.

3. •

   Small and rural practices have historically faced barriers in the adoption of CEHRT, and consequently, if practices are unable to participate and succeed in value-based care systems going forward, they may be at risk of monetary penalties.

4. •

   In this article, the authors make four recommendations for assisting small and rural practices in adopting CEHRT for QPP participation:

   1. 1.

      Provide adequate incentive funds for small and rural practices

   2. 2.

      Help clinicians adopt and fully incorporate CEHRT

   3. 3.

      Ensure CEHRT is designed to ease the burden of reporting

   4. 4.

      Encourage virtual reporting and collaborations with Alternative Payment Models (APMs).