This also means that it is not enough to simply work in a hospital that has a completely certified EHR. Thus, a radiologist must collaborate with the hospital so that the radiologist can document the meeting of meaningful use criteria in radiology workflow.

In addition, at least 50 percent of radiologists' patient encounters during the reporting period must be equipped with complete certified EHRs. This may be a specific challenge for radiologists who work at hospitals and separate outpatient facilities. If a radiologist's imaging center doesn't have an electronic medical record, at least 50 percent of those outpatient encounters must occur at the hospital to qualify. And because the bonus is paid per physician, a busy radiologist group of 10 radiologists will need to divvy up those patient encounters to ensure all physicians qualify, the article states.


"This might make for a tricky physician scheduling challenge for a group practice aiming to have all physicians qualify because each of the physicians would need to have more than 50 percent of their patient encounters (not aggregate group billings) at the site equipped with the complete certified ambulatory EHR," the article notes.

Deadlines

The last day to begin using certified technology to qualify for full payments is Oct. 1, 2012. After that date, incentives drop and also penalties will take effect in 2015.

"Given the likelihood that hospitals may be biased toward satisfying the inpatient criteria first, it would seem wise for radiologists to become active participants in their hospital information systems planning processes," the article contends.

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