Definition Thursday: American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)

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The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA):

Often used interchangeably with the HITECH Act, ARRA refers to the national digital medical records mandate for the widespread adoption and use of digital medical records by health care providers. This act authorizes the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to provide a reimbursement incentive for physician and hospital providers who are successful in becoming “Meaningful Users” of an electronic health record (EHR) system. These incentive payments began in 2011. Starting in 2015, providers are expected to have adopted and be actively utilizing an EHR in compliance with the “Meaningful Use” definition or they will be subject to financial penalties under Medicare.

Learn more about ARRA and the HITECH Act:

Finding the appropriate electronic medical record (EMR) software for your practice can be a daunting task. There are literally hundreds of choices available and many factors to consider. The quality and work flow of your practice depend on your making the right selection, as does your ability to collect payments from the U.S. government. To make matters worse, most information sources out there utilize a myriad of abbreviations and acronyms further complicating the process and causing frustration. To help minimize this, each Thursday MedicalRecords.com Blog will publish a relevant abbreviation or acronym you will come across during your EMR software search!

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