Sec.17b-34-5. Incentive Payment Requirements for Eligible Hospitals

In addition to meeting the requirements of section 17b-34-3 of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies, an eligible hospital shall meet the following requirements in order to be eligible to participate in the EHR Incentive Program:

(1) Hold a valid license issued by the Department of Public Health and comply with all applicable state statutes and regulations.

(2) Except for the first payment year as provided in subdivision (3) of this section, satisfy the requirements for meaningful use, as follows:

(A) Unless otherwise provided in 42 CFR 495.6(b), an eligible hospital shall meet: (i) All of the objectives and associated measures of the criteria in 42 CFR 495.6(f); (ii) five objectives of the eligible hospital’s choice, from the objectives in 42 CFR 495.6(g); and (iii) if applicable, the criteria in 42 CFR 495.6(i); and

(B) as provided in 42 CFR 495.8(b), an eligible hospital shall attest, in a manner specified by the department, that the eligible hospital satisfies each of the objectives and associated measures required pursuant to 42 CFR 495.6(b).

(3) In the first payment year only, an eligible hospital may either satisfy the requirements for meaningful use provided in subdivision (2) of this section or demonstrate that it has adopted, implemented or upgraded an EHR system during the payment year by attesting to the criteria in section 17b-34-4(c) of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies.

(4) Except as otherwise provided in subdivision (3) of this section, for program years one through six, an eligible hospital shall attest not more than 90 days after the close of each program federal fiscal year that it has met meaningful use of certified EHR technology, as follows:

(A) To be considered a meaningful EHR user in program federal fiscal years one and two, an eligible hospital shall attest to meeting the objectives and associated measures of meaningful use criteria in subdivision (2) of this section for any continuous ninety-day period within the program federal fiscal year; and

(B) to be considered a meaningful EHR user in program federal fiscal years three through six, an eligible hospital shall attest to meeting the objectives and associated measures of meaningful use criteria in subdivision (2) of this section for each program federal fiscal year in its entirety.

(5) An eligible hospital shall submit the information described in 42 CFR 495.10 to the department in the manner specified by CMS.

(Effective January 13, 2013)