As used in this subpart:

First payment year means with respect to—

(1) Covered professional services furnished by a qualifying MA EP, the first calendar year for which an incentive payment is made for such services under this subsection to a qualifying MA organization.

(2) Qualifying MA-affiliated eligible hospitals, the first fiscal year for which an incentive payment is made for qualifying MA-affiliated eligible hospitals under this section to a qualifying MA organization.

Inpatient-bed-days is defined in the same manner and is used in the same manner as that term is defined and used for purposes of implementing section 4201(a) of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 with respect to the Medicare FFS hospital EHR incentive program in §495.104 of this part.

MA payment adjustment year means—

(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2) of this definition, for qualifying MA organizations that receive an MA EHR incentive payment for at least 1 payment year, calendar years beginning with CY 2015.

(2) For qualifying MA organizations that receive an MA EHR incentive payment for a qualifying MA-affiliated eligible hospital in Puerto Rico for at least 1 payment year, and that have not previously received an MA EHR incentive payment for a qualifying MA-affiliated eligible hospital not in Puerto Rico, calendar years beginning with CY 2022.

(3) For MA-affiliated eligible hospitals, the applicable EHR reporting period for purposes of determining whether the MA organization is subject to a payment adjustment is the Federal fiscal year ending in the MA payment adjustment year.

(4) For MA EPs, the applicable EHR reporting period for purposes of determining whether the MA organization is subject to a payment adjustment is the calendar year concurrent with the payment adjustment year.

Patient care services means health care services for which payment would be made under, or for which payment would be based on, the fee schedule established under Medicare Part B if they were furnished by an EP to a Medicare beneficiary.

Payment year means—

(1) For a qualifying MA EP, a calendar year beginning with CY 2011 and ending with CY 2016; and

(2) For an eligible hospital, a Federal fiscal year beginning with FY 2011 and ending with FY 2016; and

(3) For an eligible hospital in Puerto Rico, a Federal fiscal year beginning with FY 2016 and ending with FY 2021.

Potentially qualifying MA EPs and potentially qualifying MA-affiliated eligible hospitals are defined for purposes of this subpart in §495.202(a)(4).

Qualifying MA-affiliated eligible hospital means an eligible hospital under section 1886(n)(6) of the Act that is under common corporate governance with a qualifying MA organization, for which at least two thirds of the Medicare hospital discharges (or bed-days) are of (or for) Medicare individuals enrolled under MA plans, and that is a meaningful user of certified EHR technology as defined by §495.4 of this part. In the case of a hospital for which at least one-third of whose Medicare bed-days for the year are covered under Part A rather than Part C, payment for that payment year must only be made under section 1886(n) of the Act and not under this section.

Qualifying MA EP means all of the following:

(1) A physician (as described in section 1861(r) of the Act), including a doctor of medicine or osteopathy who is either of the following:

(i) Employed by a qualifying MA organization.

(ii) Employed by, or is a partner of, an entity that through a contract with a qualifying MA organization furnishes at least 80 percent of the entity's Medicare patient care services to enrollees of such organization.

(2) Furnishes at least 80 percent of his or her professional services covered under Title XVIII to enrollees of the qualifying MA organization.

(3) Furnishes, on average, at least 20 hours per week of patient care services to enrollees of the qualifying MA organization during the EHR reporting period.

(4) Is a meaningful user of certified EHR technology in accordance with §495.4 of this part.

(5) Is not a “hospital-based EP” (as defined in §495.4 of this part) and in determining whether 90 percent or more of his or her covered professional services were furnished in a hospital setting, only covered professional services furnished to MA plan enrollees of the qualifying MA organization, in lieu of FFS patients, will be considered.

Qualifying MA organization means a MA organization that is organized as a health maintenance organization (HMO) as defined in section 2791(b)(3) of the Public Health Service (PHS) Act which includes a Federally qualified HMO, an organization recognized as an HMO under State law, or a similar organization regulated for solvency under State law in the same manner and to the same extent as an HMO.

Second, third, fourth, and fifth payment year means with respect to incentive payments for qualifying—

(1) MA EPs to a qualifying MA organization, each successive calendar year immediately following the first payment year for the qualifying MA organization. The first payment year and each successive year immediately following the first payment year, for the qualifying MA organizations, through 2016, is the same for all qualifying MA EPs with respect to any specific qualifying MA organization.

(2) MA-affiliated eligible hospitals to a qualifying MA organization, each successive fiscal year immediately following the first payment year for the qualifying MA organization.

Under common corporate governance means that a qualifying MA organization and a qualifying MA-affiliated eligible hospital have a common parent corporation, that one is a subsidiary of the other, or that the organization and the hospital have a common board of directors.

[75 FR 44565, July 28, 2010, as amended at 77 FR 54158, Sept. 4, 2012; 83 FR 41711, Aug. 17, 2018]