The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), includes billions of dollars in Medicare and Medicaid incentive payments to providers and hospitals for the "Meaningful Use" of certified health IT products. The legislation requires the Department of Health and Human Services to take regulatory action in several areas, including electronic health records (EHR) incentives for eligible professionals and hospitals (Meaningful Use), standards and certification criteria, an HHS Certification Program, and privacy and security.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have released a Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Payment Programs Final Rule on Meaningful Use that identifies the criteria for becoming a meaningful user of health IT. Both programs have start dates of fiscal year 2010 (as early as October 1, 2010) for hospitals and calendar year 2011 (as early as January 1, 2011) for eligible professional (EP) categories.

For more information on the programs, visit the following links.

[OFFICIAL SITE] Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs

[OFFICIAL SITE] Standards & Certification Criteria Final Rule

Additional Resources may be found here:

[BLOG] Advancing the Future of Health Care with Electronic Health Records by Dr. David Blumenthal, National Coordinator of Health IT

[VIDEO] Press Conference: Final Rules to Support Meaningful Use of EHR (07/13/2010)

[INTERVIEW] YHPS Interview with Board Member David Salinas