Definition of "hospital-based eligible professional" amended
Courtesy of the American Health Lawyers Association:
On April 15, 2010, President Barack Obama signed into law the "Continuing Extension Act of 2010" (Public Law 111-157). Section 5 of the Act contains "EHR Clarification" provisions which amend the definition of "hospital based eligible professional" that was created under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). As background, ARRA created incentives for the adoption and meaningful use of certified electronic health record (EHR) technology. However, the ARRA additions to the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395w-4) contained a limitation providing, in part, that no incentive payments would be made for these hospital-based eligible professionals.
This term was originally defined to include any professional who furnishes substantially all of the relevant services in a hospital "setting (whether inpatient or outpatient)."1 The new EHR Clarification provisions amend the ARRA definition/exclusion to only apply to a professional who furnishes substantially all of the relevant services in a hospital "in-patient or emergency room setting."2 The effect of this amended definition is that physicians practicing in an outpatient hospital setting are not excluded from and are now eligible to participate in the ARRA Medicare/Medicaid incentive programs.
