As used in this subpart:

First payment year means with respect to—

(1) Covered professional services furnished by a qualifying MA EP, the first calendar year for which an incentive payment is made for such services under this subsection to a qualifying MA organization.

(2) Qualifying MA-affiliated eligible hospitals, the first fiscal year for which an incentive payment is made for qualifying MA-affiliated eligible hospitals under this section to a qualifying MA organization.

Inpatient-bed-days is defined in the same manner and is used in the same manner as that term is defined and used for purposes of implementing section 4201(a) of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 with respect to the Medicare FFS hospital EHR incentive program in § 495.104 of this part.

MA payment adjustment year means—

(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2) of this definition, for qualifying MA organizations that receive an MA EHR incentive payment for at least 1 payment year, calendar years beginning with CY 2015.

(2) For qualifying MA organizations that receive an MA EHR incentive payment for a qualifying MA-affiliated eligible hospital in Puerto Rico for at least 1 payment year, and that have not previously received an MA EHR incentive payment for a qualifying MA-affiliated eligible hospital not in Puerto Rico, calendar years beginning with CY 2022.

(3) For MA-affiliated eligible hospitals, the applicable EHR reporting period for purposes of determining whether the MA organization is subject to a payment adjustment is the Federal fiscal year ending in the MA payment adjustment year.

(4) For MA EPs, the applicable EHR reporting period for purposes of determining whether the MA organization is subject to a payment adjustment is the calendar year concurrent with the payment adjustment year.

Patient care services means health care services for which payment would be made under, or for which payment would be based on, the fee schedule established under Medicare Part B if they were furnished by an EP to a Medicare beneficiary.

Payment year means—

(1) For a qualifying MA EP, a calendar year beginning with CY 2011 and ending with CY 2016; and

(2) For an eligible hospital, a Federal fiscal year beginning with FY 2011 and ending with FY 2016; and

(3) For an eligible hospital in Puerto Rico, a Federal fiscal year beginning with FY 2016 and ending with FY 2021.

Potentially qualifying MA EPs and potentially qualifying MA-affiliated eligible hospitals are defined for purposes of this subpart in § 495.202(a)(4).

Qualifying MA-affiliated eligible hospital means an eligible hospital under section 1886(n)(6) of the Act that is under common corporate governance with a qualifying MA organization, for which at least two thirds of the Medicare hospital discharges (or bed-days) are of (or for) Medicare individuals enrolled under MA plans, and that is a meaningful user of certified EHR technology as defined by § 495.4 of this part. In the case of a hospital for which at least one-third of whose Medicare bed-days for the year are covered under Part A rather than Part C, payment for that payment year must only be made under section 1886(n) of the Act and not under this section.

Qualifying MA EP means all of the following:

(1) A physician (as described in section 1861(r) of the Act), including a doctor of medicine or osteopathy who is either of the following:

(i) Employed by a qualifying MA organization.

(ii) Employed by, or is a partner of, an entity that through a contract with a qualifying MA organization furnishes at least 80 percent of the entity's Medicare patient care services to enrollees of such organization.

(2) Furnishes at least 80 percent of his or her professional services covered under Title XVIII to enrollees of the qualifying MA organization.

(3) Furnishes, on average, at least 20 hours per week of patient care services to enrollees of the qualifying MA organization during the EHR reporting period.

(4) Is a meaningful user of certified EHR technology in accordance with § 495.4 of this part.

(5) Is not a “hospital-based EP” (as defined in § 495.4 of this part) and in determining whether 90 percent or more of his or her covered professional services were furnished in a hospital setting, only covered professional services furnished to MA plan enrollees of the qualifying MA organization, in lieu of FFS patients, will be considered.

Qualifying MA organization means a MA organization that is organized as a health maintenance organization (HMO) as defined in section 2791(b)(3) of the Public Health Service (PHS) Act which includes a Federally qualified HMO, an organization recognized as an HMO under State law, or a similar organization regulated for solvency under State law in the same manner and to the same extent as an HMO.

Second, third, fourth, and fifth payment year means with respect to incentive payments for qualifying—

(1) MA EPs to a qualifying MA organization, each successive calendar year immediately following the first payment year for the qualifying MA organization. The first payment year and each successive year immediately following the first payment year, for the qualifying MA organizations, through 2016, is the same for all qualifying MA EPs with respect to any specific qualifying MA organization.

(2) MA-affiliated eligible hospitals to a qualifying MA organization, each successive fiscal year immediately following the first payment year for the qualifying MA organization.

Under common corporate governance means that a qualifying MA organization and a qualifying MA-affiliated eligible hospital have a common parent corporation, that one is a subsidiary of the other, or that the organization and the hospital have a common board of directors.

[75 FR 44565, July 28, 2010, as amended at 77 FR 54158, Sept. 4, 2012; 83 FR 41711, Aug. 17, 2018]

(a) Identification of qualifying MA organizations. (1) Beginning with bids due in June 2011 (for plan year 2012), MA organizations seeking reimbursement for qualifying MA EPs and qualifying MA-affiliated eligible hospitals under the MA EHR incentive program are required to identify themselves to CMS in a form and manner specified by CMS, as part of submissions of initial bids under section 1854(a)(1)(A) of the Act.

(2) Qualifying MA organizations offering MA HMO plans, absent evidence to the contrary, are deemed to meet the definition of HMO in 42 U.S.C. 300gg-91(b)(3)—section 2791(b)(3) of the PHS Act.

(3) Qualifying MA organizations offering MA plan types other than HMOs, must attest to the fact that they meet the definition of HMO in 42 U.S.C. 300gg-91(b)(3)—section 2791(b)(3) of the PHS Act.

(4) Beginning with bids due in June 2014 (for plan year 2015), all MA organizations with potentially qualifying MA EPs or potentially qualifying MA-affiliated eligible hospitals under the MA EHR incentive program must identify themselves to CMS in a form and manner specified by CMS, as part of submissions of initial bids under section 1854(a)(1)(A) of the Act. “Potentially qualifying MA EPs” and “potentially qualifying MA-affiliated eligible hospitals” are those EPs and hospitals that meet the respective definitions of “qualifying MA EP” and “qualifying MA-affiliated eligible hospital” in § 495.200 but who (or which) are not meaningful users of certified EHR technology.

(b) Identification of qualifying MA EPs and qualifying MA-affiliated eligible hospitals. (1) A qualifying MA organization, as part of its initial bid starting with plan year 2012, must make a preliminary identification of MA EPs and MA-affiliated eligible hospitals that the MA organization believes will be qualifying MA EPs and MA-affiliated eligible hospitals for which the organization is seeking incentive payments for the current plan year.

(2) A qualifying MA organization must provide CMS with the following for each MA EP or eligible hospital when reporting under either paragraph (b)(1) or (4) of this section:

(i) The MA EP's or MA-affiliated eligible hospital's name.

(ii) The address of the MA EP's practice or MA-affiliated eligible hospital's location.

(iii) NPI or CCN.

(iv) An attestation by MA organization specifying that the MA EP or MA-affiliated eligible hospital meets the eligibility criteria.

(3) When reporting under either paragraph (b)(1) or (4) of this section for purposes of receiving an incentive payment, a qualifying MA organization must also indicate whether more than 50 percent of the covered Medicare professional services being furnished by a qualifying MA EP to MA plan enrollees of the MA organization are being furnished in a designated geographic HPSA (as defined in § 495.100 of this part).

(4) Final identification of qualifying and potentially qualifying, as applicable, MA EPs and MA-affiliated eligible hospitals must be made within 2 months of the close of the payment year or the EHR reporting period that applies to the payment adjustment year as defined in § 495.200.

(5) Beginning plan year 2015 and for subsequent plan years, all qualifying MA organizations, as part of their initial bids in June for the following plan year must—

(i) Identify all MA EPs and MA-affiliated eligible hospitals of the MA organization that the MA organization believes will be either qualifying or potentially qualifying;

(ii) Include information specified in paragraph (b)(2)(i) through (iii) of this section for each professional or hospital; and

(iii) Include an attestation that each professional and hospital either meets or does not meet the EHR incentive payment eligibility criteria.

[75 FR 44565, July 28, 2010, as amended at 77 FR 54158, Sept. 4, 2012]

(a) General rule. A qualifying MA organization receives an incentive payment for its qualifying MA-EPs and its qualifying MA-eligible hospitals. The incentive payment amount paid to a qualifying MA organization for a—

(1) Qualifying MA-EP is the amount determined under paragraph (b) of this section; and

(2) Qualifying MA-eligible hospital is the amount determined under paragraph (c) of this section.

(b) Amount payable to qualifying MA organization for qualifying MA EPs. (1) CMS substitutes an amount determined to be equivalent to the amount computed under § 495.102 of this part.

(2) The qualifying MA organization must report to CMS within 2 months of the close of the calendar year, the aggregate annual amount of revenue attributable to providing services that would otherwise be covered as professional services under Part B received by each qualifying MA EP for enrollees in MA plans of the MA organization in the payment year.

(3) CMS calculates the incentive amount for the MA organization for each qualifying MA EP as an amount equal to 75 percent of the reported annual revenue specified in paragraph (b)(2) of this section, up to the maximum amounts specified under section 1848(o)(1)(B) of the Act.

(4) CMS requires the qualifying MA organization to develop a methodological proposal for estimating the portion of each qualifying MA EP's salary or revenue attributable to providing services that would otherwise be covered as professional services under Part B to MA plan enrollees of the MA organization in the payment year. The methodological proposal—

(i) Must be approved by CMS; and

(ii) May include an additional amount related to overhead, where appropriate, estimated to account for the MA-enrollee related Part B practice costs of the qualifying MA EP.

(iii) Methodological proposals must be submitted to CMS by June of the payment year and must be auditable by an independent third-party. CMS will review and approve or disapprove such proposals in a timely manner.

(5) For qualifying MA EPs who are not salaried, qualifying MA organizations may obtain attestations from such qualifying MA EPs (or from entities that the MA EPs are employed by or with which they have a partnership interest) as to the amount of compensation received by such EPs for MA plan enrollees of the MA organization. The organizations may submit to CMS compensation information for each such MA EP based on such attestations.

(6) For qualifying MA EPs who are not salaried, qualified MA organizations may have qualifying MA EPs (or from entities that the MA EPs are employed by or with which they have a partnership interest) send MA organization compensation information directly to CMS. CMS will use the information provided in this subparagraph or paragraph (b)(5) of this section for no other purpose than to compute the amount of EHR incentive payment due the MA organization.

(c) Amount payable to qualifying MA organization for qualifying MA-affiliated eligible hospitals. (1)(i) CMS substitutes an amount determined to be equivalent to the amount computed under § 495.104, to the extent data are not available to compute payments for qualifying MA-affiliated eligible hospitals under the Medicare FFS EHR hospital incentive program.

(ii) CMS uses the same methodology and defines “inpatient-bed-days”and other terms as used under the Medicare FFS EHR hospital incentive program in § 495.104 of this part in computing amounts due qualifying MA organizations for MA-affiliated eligible hospitals.

(2) To the extent data are available, qualifying MA organizations must receive hospital incentive payments through their affiliated hospitals under the Medicare FFS EHR hospital incentive program, rather than through the MA EHR hospital incentive program.

(d) Payment to qualifying MA organizations. CMS makes payment to qualifying MA organizations for qualifying MA EPs only under the MA EHR incentive program and not under the Medicare FFS EHR incentive program to the extent an EP has earned less than the maximum incentive payment for the same period under the Medicare FFS EHR incentive program.

(e) Potential increase in incentive payment for furnishing services in a geographic HPSA. In the case of a qualifying MA EP who furnishes more than 50 percent of his or her covered professional services to MA plan enrollees of the qualifying MA organization during a payment year in a geographic HPSA, the maximum amounts referred to in paragraph (b)(3) of this section are increased by 10 percent.

(f) Payment review under MA. To ensure the accuracy of the incentive payments, CMS conducts selected compliance reviews of qualifying MA organizations to ensure that EPs and eligible hospitals for which such qualifying organizations received incentive payments were meaningful EHR users in accordance with § 422.504 of this chapter.

(1) The reviews include validation of the status of the organization as a qualifying MA organization, verification of meaningful use and review of data used to calculate incentive payments.

(2) MA organizations are required to maintain evidence of their qualification to receive incentive payments and the data necessary to accurately calculate incentive payments.

(3) Documents and records must be maintained for 6 years from the date such payments are made with respect to a given payment year.

(4) Payments that result from incorrect or fraudulent attestations, cost data, or any other submission required to establish eligibility or to qualify for such payment, will be recouped by CMS from the MA organization.

(5) If an MA EP, or entity that employs an MA EP, or in which an MA EP has a partnership interest, MA-affiliated eligible hospital, or other party contracting with the MA organization, fails to comply with an audit request to produce applicable documents or data, CMS recoups all or a portion of the incentive payment, based on the lack of applicable documents or data.

(g) Coordination of payment with FFS or Medicaid EHR incentive programs. (1) If, after payment is made to an MA organization for an MA EP, it is determined that the MA EP is eligible for the full incentive payment under the Medicare FFS EHR Incentive Program or has received a payment under the Medicaid EHR Incentive Program, CMS recoups amounts applicable to the given MA EP from the MA organization's monthly MA payment, or otherwise recoups the applicable amounts.

(2) If, after payment is made to an MA organization for an MA-affiliated eligible hospital, it is determined that the hospital is ineligible for the incentive payment under the MA EHR Incentive Program, or has received a payment under the Medicare FFS EHR Incentive Program, or if it is determined that all or part of the payment should not have been made on behalf of the MA-affiliated eligible hospital, CMS recoups amounts applicable to the given MA-affiliated eligible hospital from the MA organization's monthly MA payment, or otherwise recoups the applicable amounts.

[75 FR 44565, July 28, 2010, as amended at 77 FR 54158, Sept. 4, 2012]

(a) CMS makes payment to qualifying MA organizations for qualifying MA EPs under the MA EHR incentive program after computing incentive payments due under the Medicare FFS EHR incentive program according to § 495.102.

(b) Payments to qualifying MA organizations for qualifying MA-affiliated eligible hospitals under common corporate governance are made under the Medicare FFS EHR incentive program, following the timeline in specified in § 495.104 of this part. To the extent sufficient data do not exist to pay qualifying MA-affiliated eligible hospitals under common corporate governance under the Medicare FFS EHR incentive program, payment is made under the MA EHR incentive program, following the same timeline in § 495.104 of this part.

(a) CMS requires a qualifying MA organization that registers MA EPs for the purpose of participating in the MA EHR Incentive Program to notify each of the MA EPs for which it is claiming an incentive payment that the MA organization intends to claim, or has claimed, the MA EP for the current plan year under the MA EHR Incentive Program.

(b) The notice must make clear that the MA EP may still directly receive an EHR incentive payment if the MA EP is entitled to a full incentive payment under the FFS portion of the EHR Incentive Program, or if the MA EP registered to participate under the Medicaid portion of the EHR Incentive Program and is entitled to payment under that program—in both of which cases no payment would be made for the EP under the MA EHR incentive program.

(c) An attestation by the qualifying MA organization that the qualifying MA organization provided notice to its MA EPs in accordance with this section must be required at the time that meaningful use attestations are due with respect to MA EPs for the payment year.

(d) Unless a qualifying MA EP is entitled to a maximum payment for a year under the Medicare FFS EHR incentive program, payment for such an individual is only made under the MA EHR incentive program to a qualifying MA organization.

(e) Payment to qualifying MA organizations for a qualifying MA-affiliated eligible hospital under common governance only occurs under the MA EHR incentive program to the extent that sufficient data does not exist to pay such hospital under the Medicare FFS hospital incentive program under § 495.104 of this part. In no event are EHR incentive payments made for a hospital for a payment year under this section to the extent they have been made for the same hospital for the same payment year under § 495.104 of this part.

(f) Each qualifying MA organization must ensure that all potentially qualifying MA EPs are enumerated through the NPI system and that other identifying information required under § 495.202(b) is provided to CMS.

[75 FR 44565, July 28, 2010, as amended at 77 FR 54159, Sept. 4, 2012]

(a) Qualifying MA organizations are required to attest, in a form and manner specified by CMS, that each qualifying MA EP and qualifying MA-affiliated eligible hospitals is a meaningful EHR user.

(b) Qualifying MA organizations are required to attest within 2 months after the close of a calendar year whether each qualifying MA EP is a meaningful EHR user.

(c) Qualifying MA organizations are required to attest within 2 months after close of the FY whether each qualifying MA-affiliated eligible hospital is a meaningful EHR user.

[75 FR 44565, July 28, 2010, as amended at 77 FR 54159, Sept. 4, 2012]

(a) In general. Beginning for MA payment adjustment year 2015, payment adjustments set forth in this section are made to prospective payments (issued under section 1853(a)(1)(A) of the Act) of qualifying MA organizations that previously received incentive payments under the MA EHR Incentive Program, if all or a portion of the MA-EPs and MA-affiliated eligible hospitals that would meet the definition of qualifying MA-EPs or qualifying MA-affiliated eligible hospitals (but for their demonstration of meaningful use) are not meaningful EHR users.

(b) Adjustment based on payment adjustment year. The payment adjustment is calculated based on the payment adjustment year.

(c) Separate application of adjustments for MA EPs and MA-affiliated eligible hospitals. The payment adjustments identified in paragraphs (d) and (e) of this section are applied separately. Paragraph (d) of this section applies only to qualifying MA organizations that received payment for any MA payment year for qualifying MA EPs under § 495.204. Paragraph (e) of this section applies only to qualifying MA organizations that received payment for any MA payment year for qualifying MA-affiliated eligible hospitals under § 495.204.

(d) Payment adjustments effective for 2015 and subsequent years with respect to MA EPs. (1) For payment adjustment year 2015, and subsequent payment adjustment years, if a qualifying MA EP is not a meaningful EHR user during the payment adjustment year, CMS—

(i) Determines a payment adjustment based on data from the payment adjustment year; and

(ii) Collects the payment adjustment owed by adjusting a subsequent year's prospective payment or payments (issued under section 1853(a)(1)(A) of the Act), or by otherwise collecting the payment adjustment, if, in the year of collection, the MA organization does not have an MA contract with CMS.

(2) Beginning for payment adjustment year 2015, a qualifying MA organization that previously received incentive payments must, for each payment adjustment year, report to CMS the following:

[the total number of potentially qualifying MA EPs]/[(the total number of potentially qualifying MA EPs) + (the total number of qualifying MA EPs)].

(3) The monthly prospective payment amount paid under section 1853(a)(1)(A) of the Act for the payment adjustment year is adjusted by the product of—

(i) The percent calculated in accordance with paragraph (d)(2) of this section;

(ii) The Medicare Physician Expenditure Proportion percent, which is CMS's estimate of proportion of expenditures under Parts A and B that are not attributable to Part C that are attributable to expenditures for physicians' services, adjusted for the proportion of expenditures that are provided by EPs that are neither qualifying nor potentially qualifying MA EPs with respect to a qualifying MA organization; and

(iii) The applicable percent identified in paragraph (d)(4) of this section.

(4) Applicable percent. The applicable percent is as follows:

(i) For 2015, 1 percent;

(ii) For 2016, 2 percent;

(iii) For 2017, 3 percent.

(iv) For 2018, 3 percent, except, in the case described in paragraph (d)(4)(vi) of this section, 4 percent.

(v) For 2019 and each subsequent year, 3 percent, except, in the case described in paragraph (d)(4)(vi) of this section, the percent from the prior year plus 1 percent. In no case will the applicable percent be higher than 5 percent.

(vi) Beginning with payment adjustment year 2018, if the percentage in paragraph (d)(2) of this section is more than 25 percent, the applicable percent is increased in accordance with paragraphs (d)(4)(iv) and (v) of this section.

(e) Payment adjustments effective for 2015 and subsequent years with respect to MA-affiliated eligible hospitals. (1)(i) The payment adjustment set forth in this paragraph (e) applies if a qualifying MA organization that previously received an incentive payment (or a potentially qualifying MA-affiliated eligible hospital on behalf of its qualifying MA organization) attests that a qualifying MA-affiliated eligible hospital is not a meaningful EHR user for a payment adjustment year.

(ii) The payment adjustment is calculated by multiplying the qualifying MA organization's monthly prospective payment for the payment adjustment year under section 1853(a)(1)(A) of the Act by the percent set forth in paragraph (e)(2) of this section.

(2) The percent set forth in this paragraph (e) is the product of—

(i) The percentage point reduction to the applicable percentage increase in the market basket index for the relevant Federal fiscal year as a result of § 412.64(d)(3) of this chapter;

(ii) The Medicare Hospital Expenditure Proportion percent specified in paragraph (e)(3) of this section; and

(iii) The percent of qualifying and potentially qualifying MA-affiliated eligible hospitals that are not meaningful EHR users. Qualifying MA organizations are required to report to CMS

[the number of potentially qualifying MA-affiliated eligible hospitals] / [(the total number of potentially qualifying MA-affiliated eligible hospitals) + (the total number of qualifying MA-affiliated eligible hospitals)].

(3) The Medicare Hospital Expenditure Proportion for a year is the Secretary's estimate of expenditures under Parts A and B that are not attributable to Part C, that are attributable to expenditures for inpatient hospital services, adjusted for the proportion of expenditures that are provided by hospitals that are neither qualifying nor potentially qualifying MA-affiliated eligible hospitals with respect to a qualifying MA organization.

(4) For MA payment adjustment years prior to 2022, subsection (d) Puerto Rico hospitals are neither potentially qualifying MA-affiliated eligible hospitals nor qualifying MA-affiliated eligible hospitals for purposes of applying the payment adjustments under paragraph (e) of this section.

[77 FR 54159, Sept. 4, 2012, as amended at 83 FR 41711, Aug. 17, 2018]

(a) There is no administrative or judicial review under section 1869 or 1878 of the Act, or otherwise of the methodology and standards for determining payment amounts and payment adjustments under the MA EHR EP incentive program. This includes provisions related to duplication of payment avoidance and rules developed related to the fixed schedule for application of limitation on incentive payments for all qualifying MA EPs related to a specific qualifying MA organization. It also includes the methodology and standards developed for determining qualifying MA EPs and the methodology and standards for determining a meaningful EHR user, including the means of demonstrating meaningful use and the selection of measures.

(b) There is no administrative or judicial review under sections 1869 or 1878 of the Act, or otherwise, of the methodology and standards for determining payment amounts and payment adjustments under the MA EHR hospital incentive program. This includes provisions related to duplication of payment avoidance. It also includes the methodology and standards developed for determining qualifying MA-affiliated eligible hospitals and the methodology and standards for determining a meaningful EHR user, including the means of demonstrating meaningful use and the selection of measures.