Government

CMS urges applications for EMR demonstration project

NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted March 10, 2008

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The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on Feb. 20 called on community leaders to apply for a demonstration project featuring Medicare incentive payments for physicians who use electronic medical records. The program will provide payments to as many as 1,200 doctors in the 12 communities to be selected for the program. "We are looking for communities which have strong ties to primary care physicians and are willing to assist CMS in education activities and the recruitment of physician practices," said Kerry Weems, the agency's acting administrator. The project aims to reduce medical errors and improve quality for an estimated 3.6 million patients.

Physicians would receive payments during the five-year project for using certified EMRs to improve quality based on specific clinical measures. Bonus payments also would be made based on a standardized survey measuring the number of EMR functionalities a physician group incorporated into its practice. Total payments under the project could be up to $58,000 per physician or $290,000 per practice.

The application deadline is May 13. Further details are available online in an HHS news release (link).

Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2008/03/10/gvbf0310.htm.

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