• Who is an Eligible Professional or an Eligible Hospital?
• How do Eligible Professionals and Eligible Hospitals Meet Meaningful Use Objectives and Measures?
• How does this work?
• Finding a Certified Health IT Product
• Meaningful Use Attestation

Who is an Eligible Professional or an Eligible Hospital?
Eligible Professionals (EPs) and Eligible Hospitals (EHs) who seek to qualify for incentive payments under the Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Programs are required by statute to use Certified Electronic Health Record Technology (CEHRT). Complete EHRs or combined EHR Modules are used by EPs and EHs to meet the statutory requirement for CEHRT.
Eligible Professionals (also referred to as Eligible Providers)
EPs for the Medicare EHR Incentive Program are physicians as defined in section 1861(r) of the Social Security Act (SSA). EPs under the Medicare EHR Incentive Program include: doctors of medicine or osteopathy, doctors of dental surgery or dental medicine, doctors of podiatry, doctors of optometry, and chiropractors. A hospital-based EP furnishes substantially all of his or her Medicare-covered professional services in a hospital inpatient or emergency room setting. Hospital-based EPs are not eligible for the Medicare incentive payments.
EPs for the Medicaid EHR Incentive Program are physicians (primarily doctors of medicine and doctors of osteopathy), dentists, nurse practitioners, certified nurse midwives, and physician assistants practicing in a Federally Qualified Health Center led by a physician assistant or Rural Health Clinic.
Eligible Hospitals
EHs in the ONC HIT Certification (formerly known as the Permanent Certification Program) Final Rule refers to EHs and/or Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) unless otherwise indicated.
EHs in the Medicaid EHR Incentive Program are acute care hospitals, including cancer and CAHs, and children’s hospitals.
How do Eligible Professionals and Eligible Hospitals Meet Meaningful Use Objectives and Measures?

• Medicare EHR Incentive Program—EPs, EHs, and CAHs must successfully demonstrate MU of CEHRT every year they participate in the program.
• Medicaid EHR Incentive Program—EPs and EHs may qualify for incentive payments if they adopt, implement, upgrade or demonstrate MU in their first year of participation. They must successfully demonstrate MU for subsequent participation years.
• Adopted: Acquired and installed CEHRT. (For example, can show evidence of installation.)
• Implemented: Began using CEHRT. (For example, provide staff training or data entry of patient demographic information into EHR.)
• Upgraded: Expanded existing technology to meet certification requirements. (For example, upgrade to CEHRT or add new functionality to meet the definition of CEHRT.)

How does this work?
Certification ensures that the EHR technology providers choose to adopt offers the necessary capabilities, functionalities, and security to help them achieve MU. Solely adopting certified EHR does not qualify an EP or EH to receive incentive payments. EPs and EHs must Meaningfully Use the certified EHR and successfully attest to demonstrating MU to qualify for an incentive payment through the EHR Incentive Program administered by CMS. Meaningful Use and Certification have two separate sets of requirements.
Vendors and Developers create EHR technology to meet the standards and certification criteria adopted by the HHS Secretary. Providers and hospitals use CEHRT to meet the MU objectives and measures established by CMS.
Additional information on CMS EHR Incentive Programs
An Overview of Certification vs. Meaningful Use

Meaningful Use sets specific objectives that EPs and EHs must achieve to qualify for CMS' EHR Incentive Program
Finding a Certified Health IT Product
To find a Complete EHR or EHR Module, visit the Certified Health IT Product List (CHPL). The CHPL provides the authoritative, comprehensive listing of EHRs that have been tested and certified under the ONC Certification Program.
Note: EHR product certifications made in the TCP are valid in the ONC HIT Certification Program (formerly known as the Permanent Certification Program or PCP).
Meaningful Use Attestation
The Meaningful Use Program and the EHR Incentive Program are managed by CMS. Certain MU attestation requirements outline actions with the ONC Certification Program. An EP or EH selects a Complete EHR or a combination of EHR Modules to create a complete certified EHR on the Certified Health IT Product List (CHPL).