The health sector grant funding landscape is abuzz with excitement. The new Health Care Innovation Challenge program is providing $1 billion in funding for projects that offer innovations in service delivery and payment modeling. The primary target population for the funding are those individuals enrolled in CMS insurance programs, which includes Medicare, Medicaid, and Child Health Insurance Program (CHIP). While applicants can address other populations, the project will not be funded unless one of the three CMS-insured populations are incorporated at some level.

So you have checked a few items off your list: (1) You determined you are an eligible health care provider, (2) You have calculated an estimate incentive payment and realize what's at stake in terms of reimbursement, (3) You have begun the registration process with CMS (Medicare) or the agency in your state administering the Medicaid program, and (4) You have reviewed and completely understand the various objectives and measures that your EHR system must meet in order to prove meaningful use and capitalize on the incentives.

So you have checked a few items off your list: (1) You determined you are an eligible health care provider, (2) You have calculated an estimate incentive payment and realize what's at stake in terms of reimbursement, (3) You have begun the registration process with CMS (Medicare) or the agency in your state administering the Medicaid program, and (4) You purchased an EHR system that is certified by the Office of the National Coordinator Authorized and Testing Certification Body.

Unless you have been hibernating in a cave for the past year, everyone connected to healthcare has been hearing the buzz words - Certified EHR Technology, Incentives, and Meaningful Use. The Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentives were included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, but registration just recently opened as payments will be dished out for the first time in 2011. Almost $20 billion is available to encourage the adoption of electronic health care records by health care providers across the United States.