The Healthcare Financial Management Association has released guidance on accounting practices for hospitals that receive federal incentive payments for the meaningful use of electronic health records, Modern Healthcare reports.
Under the 2009 federal economic stimulus package, health care providers who demonstrate meaningful use of certified EHRs can qualify for Medicaid and Medicare incentive payments.
The guidance covers two accounting approaches:
- An International Accounting Standards approach based on grant accounting; and
- A contingency model.
A majority of the guidance examines the use of the IAS approach because the Securities and Exchange Commission has not publicly evaluated specific requirements of the contingency model.
However, most SEC-regulated hospitals use a contingency approach, according to the guidance (Barr, Modern Healthcare, 1/4).