Hospitals, physicians and other eligible health care providers are now able to register for the incentive programs for electronic health records established by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS).  To be able to receive incentive payments, health care providers must prove that they have adopted and have achieved "meaningful use" of certified health information technology.  There are separate incentive programs for Medicare and Medicaid, and physicians must choose one of the two programs; hospitals can participate in both if they qualify.

What do you need to do to receive incentive payments?  First, you need to have a certified electronic health record (EHR).  You also can use a combination of certified EHR modules, as long as you are able to satisfy all the meaningful use criteria with the combination.  To see the list of certified EHRs and modules, click here.

Next, you need to verify that EHR can meet all Stage 1 meaningful use standards.  This requires that you are able to perform electronic prescribing, be ready for electronic exchange of health information, and capture quality data in standardized format so that it can be reported for purposes of measuring and improving quality.  To get the basics on meaningful use, click here.

If you meet the Stage 1 meaningful use standards, you can register for the incentive payment.  But be careful:  don't register if you are not sure you can meet the standards.  Once you register, you will need to achieve the Stage 2 and Stage 3 standards once they are adopted, even if you have failed the first year at achieving Stage 1.  Here's the registration site.