Louisiana Department of Health & Hospitals | Bruce Greenstein, Secretary

Electronic Health Records (EHR) Incentive Payment Program

Through the Louisiana Medicaid Electronic Health Records (EHR) Incentive Payment Program, eligible medical professionals and hospitals with qualifying Medicaid patient volume can receive incentive payments for adopting, implementing or upgrading and meaningfully using certified EHR technology.   Eligible Professionals (EPs) are physicians, nurse practitioners, certified nurse-midwives, dentists, optometrists, and physician assistants (who furnish services in a FQHC or RHC that is led by a physician assistant).  Eligible Hospitals include critical access, acute care, and children's hospitals.  To learn more about the program, click here. 

Program Highlights

• The new and improved online attestation portal, LAConnect, was successfully launched on May 1, 2013. The system is user-friendly and allows eligible Louisiana Medicaid professionals (EPs) and hospitals (EHs) to complete attestations for Adoption, Implementation, Upgrade and Meaningful Use. Important: When logging into lamedicaid.com to attest, EPs must use their individual login credentials. 
• If you are an Eligible Professional seeking a Year 3/Meaningful Use (MU) payment, the earliest you can attest for Year 3/MU is January 2014. Your 365-day MU attestation period cannot cross calendar years and must be January 2013 to December 2013.
• Louisiana was the 4th state in the nation to launch its incentive payment program in January 2011. Since that time, nearly 2,000 medical professionals and hospitals in Louisiana have received more than $170 million in incentive payments.
• For Program Year 1, more than $100 million in incentive payments was paid to 93 hospitals for an average payment greater than $1 million.
• In April 2012, Louisiana was the first state in the nation to make a meaningful use payment.
• Since program inception, Louisiana has remained among the top 10 states in incentive payments.

What Should Providers/Hospitals Do to Get Started?

Before applying with Louisiana Medicaid for your incentive payment, you must first register with CMS.   If you haven't registered, click here to register with CMS.   

After registering with CMS, go to lamedicaid.com, and click on the red Provider Login button. IMPORTANT: Eligible Professionals (EPs) must log in using their individual Medicaid Provider ID or NPI. EPs must not log in using group or practice credentials. After successfully logging in, you will be able to access LAConnect. LAConnect is the online portal where Louisiana's eligible professionals and eligible hospitals can apply for EHR incentive payments.

Payment

Your incentive payment will be linked to the Payee NPI and Payee TIN that you provided during the CMS registration process. If the information you provided to CMS does not match the information in your Provider Enrollment File, a paper check will be mailed to the designated payee. Enrolled providers are encouraged to keep Provider Enrollment File information current, including payname, address and account numbers. You may contact Provider Enrollment at 225-216-6370.

Please expect payment within six weeks of completing your attestation. If there is a problem with your attestation, the timeframe may be extended.

Audit

Incentive payments are subject to review by Myers and Stauffer LC, an audit firm under contract with Louisiana Medicaid.  Myers and Stauffer auditors are currently reviewing Year 1 payments and are scheduled to begin review of Year 2 payments in early 2013.  If selected for review, you will receive a notification letter from Myers and Stauffer with instructions on required documentation.  In addition to reviews conducted by Myers and Stauffer, incentive payments are subject to review and audit by external oversight bodies, such as Louisiana Legislative Auditor and Office of Inspector General.  As a recipient of an incentive payment, you are required to comply with these reviews and grant access to the auditors as needed.  Click on the appropriate link for EP Audit Tips and EH Audit Tips.  

Lagniappe

Please visit these helpful links for more information: 

• Path to Payment 
• List of Certified EHR Technology (CHPL),
• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about Louisiana's EHR Incentive Payment Program, click here.
• Frequently Asked Questions - Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, click here. 
• Louisiana Health Care Quality Forum (Louisiana's Regional Extension Center) 
• Louisiana Health Information Exchange (LaHIE)

Contact us

For more information about how to participate in this program, contact Louisiana Medicaid EHR Incentive Payment Program at ehrincentives@la.gov or 225-342-8746.