Oklahoma DOs awarded first incentive checks in nation for ‘meaningful use’

Jeffrey Gastorf, DO, and Melissa Ann Gastorf, DO, the husband and wife owners of the Gastorf Family Clinic in Durant, Okla., became the first physicians in the country to receive federal incentive checks for making “meaningful use” of electronic health records (EHRs) in their practice.

On Jan. 5, the Oklahoma Health Care Authority awarded the Gastorfs $21,250 each under the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ multiyear Electronic Health Record Incentive Program, aimed at promoting nationwide use of EHRs. The first phase of the Medicaid portion of the plan only requires health care professionals to purchase and begin using a certified EHR system, or upgrade to one, to receive payment bonuses. Physicians have until 2016 to meet the Medicaid phase one requirements and collect the $21,250 incentive bonus.

During the next five years, physicians who achieve further “meaningful use” goals defined in the incentive program —goals such as e-prescribing, recording patients’ smoking status and maintaining lists of active diagnoses—can collect up to $63,750 under the Medicaid program. Medicare providers who demonstrate increasing meaningful use over six years can receive $44,500.

The Gastorfs’ EHR journey began shortly after they opened their practice in September 2005. “We saw that we were going to have to implement EHRs before long,” Dr. Melissa Gastorf says. “So we decided to do it early on rather than wait and have the added cost of converting paper files to a digital format.” The clinic incorporated an EHR system from e-MDs Inc.

Find your regional extension center

The federal government has established regional extension centers to help health care professionals become meaningful users of health information technology.

Click on an icon below to get a regional extension center’s website link, mailing address and email contact.

View a larger map (Source: Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology)

In July 2010, the federal government issued its final criteria for meaningful use. Last fall, a representative from a regional extension center contacted the Gastorfs and offered to help them qualify for the federal payments. The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology has created the national network of regional extension centers to help health care professionals implement EHRs.

“Because 30 to 50% of our patient population is on Medicaid, it made sense for us to try to qualify for the Medicaid portion of the program,” Dr. Melissa Gastorf says. Eligibility for Medicaid incentive checks requires physicians to show that 30% of their practice consists of Medicaid patients.

“While the Gastorfs already were electronically recording vital signs and clinical quality measures, as well as e-prescribing, to qualify for the first round of Medicaid payments they only had to upgrade to a certified EHR system,” says Crystal Plata, the regional extension center practice specialist who helped the Gastorfs. In early December 2010, they installed the latest, 7.0 version of the e-MDs software.

On Jan. 3, the opening day of registration for incentive checks, the Gastorfs filed their paperwork online. Two days later, the Oklahoma Health Care Authority notified the physicians of their combined $42,500 bonus.

Dr. Melissa Gastorf reports that the clinic’s next high-tech step “will be to incorporate a patient portal, which will allow patients to get online lab results and emails from our office.” If the physicians demonstrate meaningful use of their EHR next year, they’re each eligible to receive $8,500.