Welcome to the S.C. Medicaid Promoting Interoperability Program (EHR Incentive Program)

***Announcement***:

We are now in the EHR reporting period for Program Year 2019. ALL Providers need to meet Stage 3 Requirements using 2015 Certified EHR Technology (CEHRT) during any minimum continuous 90-day period between Jan. 1, 2019 and Dec. 31, 2019. We anticipate accepting attestations for PY2019 beginning Jan. 1, 2020. Eligible providers or their authorized representatives must submit an attestation at https://slr.scdhhs.gov to receive financial incentives.

NOTICE: The Medicaid Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Program has been renamed the “Medicaid Promoting Interoperability (PI) Program”. Although the name has changed, the requirements, attestation, meaningful use, and incentive payment process of the “EHR Incentive Program” is the same. Eligible Providers (EPs) participating in Medicare PI Programs (such as MIPS) may restart or continue their participation with the separate S.C. Medicaid PI Program. EPs may participate in and receive money from BOTH programs! See this link. Medicaid EHR incentives will end after 2021, but there is still time to take advantage of this limited opportunity to be rewarded for your EHR usage!  

How much are the incentives? Can I receive incentives for multiple years? What if I haven't participated in a long time?

    Incentive amounts are $8,500 per each approved attestation; up to a maximum of six paid attestations (six program years) or a total of $63,750 per EP. EP participation does not have to be consecutive and EPs can participate again at any time if they were paid in the past (skipping program years is allowed). Pediatricians have the option of qualifying with 19.5% Medicaid patient volume for an incentive amount of $5,667.

How do I determine if I, or other providers are eligible to participate in the Medicaid PI Program and receive incentive payments?

    If the provider received, or their current or former employer has received on their behalf, at least one incentive payment (either for AIU or MU) from any state or territory they may submit additional attestations to claim more payments. Don't miss out! If you're not sure, please send your NPI or a list of your organization's provider NPIs to HITSC@scdhhs.gov or call us at 803-898-2996 to confirm. There are many providers who miss out because may mistakenly believe they are not eligible (often because they are not aware their employer received the payment)  - Click here to read more.

What are the Meaningful Use (MU) requirements for Program Year (PY) 2019? Did EPs need to perform these actions the entire year?

    ALL EPs are now required to meet Stage 3 measures during an EP selected continuous minimum 90-day period occurring between Jan. 1, 2019 and Dec. 31, 2019. EPs don't have to perform these actions the entire year, nor perform these actions for every patient. The meaningful use requirements allow the EP to limit their patient populations to only those patients whose records are maintained with CEHRT. Refer to the link in the first sentence.

What if I upgraded from 2014 edition (or older) CEHRT to 2015 edition CEHRT, or changed vendors in 2019?

    An EP does not need to have 2015 Edition Certified Electronic Health Record Technology (CEHRT) by the beginning of the calendar year (or the CQM reporting period). The EP must have 2015 CEHRT implemented by their chosen minimum continuous 90-day EHR reporting period for Program Year 2019. EOs can combine data from different CEHRT systems (for example: if they changed vendors or practice at multiple locations) by performing manual calculations using reports from the different systems but ONLY from systems certified to 2015 criteria by the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC). Auditable documentation to support calculations should be uploaded with the attestation, must be kept for a minimum of six years and must be provided to SCDHHS upon request.

Can individuals submit attestations on behalf of providers in their organizations/ practices?

    Yes. Individuals submitting attestations on behalf of providers must establish an Identity and Access (I&A) Management Account first. Once you acquire an I&A account, you will use your CMS Registration ID to login to the SC SLR and submit attestations. Forgot your SLR Password? You will need to get your unique CMS Registration ID (which is also your SLR password) from CMS by calling 1(866) 484-8049 and state you need "access to your EHR account". If you are not successful contact HITSC@scdhhs.gov

• See Frequently Asked Questions about I&A Access
• See I&A Quick Reference Guide

What if an EP has a previous attestation that was not paid or was hospital-based in a previous year?

• Unpaid attestations: Some EPs may have unpaid attestations in the SLR. Having an unpaid attestation does not make an EP ineligible to submit a new attestation for another program year. There is no requirement to resolve any outstanding issues with previously submitted attestations to participate in another program year. When logged into the SLR, simply select program year 2019 from the drop-down list and begin a new attestation.
• Hospital-based status:  Read this important update!

What if EPs see patients at locations without Certified Electronic Health Record Technology (CEHRT)?

    For information regarding EPs who practice at multiple locations, please refer to this link.

SCDHEC's Immunization Registry has not declared readiness to accept submissions in the manner required by Stage 3. Can EPs exclude the immunization reporting requirement?

    Yes. SCDHEC will not be able to declare readiness to accept submission during calendar year 2019. Therefore, SCDHHS has determined that ALL EPs who attest to upcoming Program Year 2019 will not need to meet this measure and automatically qualify for the exclusion for Objective 8, Measure 1 (immunization registry reporting). The following exclusion needs to be selected in the attestation:

"Any EP who operates in a jurisdiction where no immunization registry or immunization information system has declared readiness to receive immunization data as of 6 months prior to the start of the EHR reporting period."

EPs do not need to get any information or communication (letter, email, etc.) from SCDHEC in order to claim the exclusion.  EPs will not need to obtain or retain any auditable documentation for this exclusion.