TennCare Medicaid Electronic Health Record (EHR) Provider Incentive Payment Program
Attention Returning Providers: CMS has issued a rule (effective November 14, 2016) which allows ALL providers to use a consecutive 90-day period for MU data reporting in both 2016 AND 2017. This is in lieu of the previous requirement that providers report 365 days of MU data in both years.
Welcome to the home page for the TennCare Medicaid EHR Provider Incentive Payment Program (PIPP), as established under the HITECH Act of 2009. Links on this page will provide you with access to additional information, FAQs, CMS, instructions, and other assistance to aid you in participating in the EHR Provider Incentive Payment Program. Updated information will be provided as the Program matures. The links to the left will provide additional information on the following topics.
- EHR Incentive Overview – An introduction and history of the TennCare Medicaid EHR Incentive Program
- How to Register & Attest – Directs you through the process from registering at CMS through attestation on the PIPP portal. You may also want to review our PowerPoint Presentations found under the Resources link.
- Meaningful Use – Information on how to attest to Meaningful Use
- Program Integrity & Audit – Both CMS and TennCare do random audits on provider attestations. This section provides some information about that process.
- Resources – This link will connect you to our PowerPoint Presentations (a step-by-step on how to attest), FAQs, how to contact us and Acronyms & Glossary
The information provided on this web site focuses on the TennCare Medicaid EHR Provider Incentive Payment Program. Eligible Professionals (EPs) must choose between participating in either the Medicare or the Medicaid EHR Incentive Program. Eligible Hospitals (EHs) can receive payments from both programs, if they enroll as dually-eligible hospitals. Medicaid-only and children’s hospitals will receive their EHR incentive payment from the TennCare Medicaid EHR Incentive Program.
The CMS web site also has a lot of information and FAQs. CMS has the overall responsibility for the EHR Provider Incentive Payment Program, and the CMS web site is very general in nature. You are more likely to find the answers you need here on TennCare’s web site to participate in the TennCare Medicaid EHR Incentive Program. If you want information about attesting under the Medicare incentive program, you will need to go to CMS.
- Current Payment Information
- This table is updated weekly showing the number of EPs and EHs who have been received EHR Incentive Payments since the inception of the TennCare EHR Provider Incentive Payment Program. As providers advance from AIU to meaningful use of their EHR systems, we expect both the number of providers and the amounts to rise. Haven’t enrolled yet? Go to the How to Register & Attest page to see how to begin.
- Important Information Concerning MEDICARE Payment Adjustments
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As part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), Congress mandated payment adjustments to be applied to MEDICARE-Eligible Professionals (EPs), and Eligible Hospitals (EHs) which are not meaningful users of Certified Electronic Health Technology (CEHRT) under the Medicare OR Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs. Medicaid EPs who can only participate in the Medicaid EHR Incentive Program and do not bill MEDICARE are not subject to these payment adjustments.
EPs and EHs may apply to CMS for hardship exceptions to avoid the payment adjustments.
The links below provide important information from CMS about MEDICARE payment adjustments for those who have not achieved Meaningful Use (MU).
Eligible Professionals
- CMS EP Payment Adjustment & Hardship Exception Tipsheet
- Payment Adjustments & Hardship Exceptions - Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
- CMS 2015 EP Hardship Exception Guidance for EPs
Eligible Hospitals
You may also want to review the TennCare EHR Newsletter dated April 25, 2014, which includes information on the MEDICARE payment adjustments - TennCare EHR Newsletter
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On a monthly, and an as-needed basis, TennCare publishes an electronic newsletter to bring you the latest information about the EHR Provider Incentive Payment Program. We occasionally include information from CMS that we feel may be of interest to you.
We are now automatically enrolling all providers who are a part of the EHR Incentive Program. In case we miss you, or you are not yet enrolled, or just want to see what is being posted, you can subscribe by going to E-Blast newsletters. You can also go to E-Blast Newsletters to see past issues.
If you use a consultant to help with attesting: some providers use consultants to assist them in registering and attempting to qualify for the EHR Provider Incentive Program. This is an acceptable practice and TennCare does not have any objections to providers doing so. However, providers need to be aware that some consultants enter their own email address when registering the provider at the CMS R&A web site. As TennCare does all correspondence related to the EHR Incentive Program via email, all email is sent to the address entered when registering at CMS. If you are using a consultant who places their (the consultant’s) email address in your registration, you need to maintain close contact with the consultant as some attestation problems may require your intervention.