Anesthesia Business Consultants, LLC (ABC) embraced a new role and filed formal comments on a “Notice of Proposed Rulemaking” with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on May 7, 2012.  The Proposed Rule would modify the requirements for physicians and hospitals to demonstrate “meaningful use” of certified Electronic Health Record (EHR) technology.  Meaningful users of certified EHRs are able to earn Medicare bonuses of up to $44,000 or Medicaid bonuses of up to $63,750 per physician.  Just as important, eligible professionals who fail to become meaningful users  will be subject to payment penalties beginning in 2015. Even with the best of intentions and a reasonable amount of funds to invest, very few, if any, anesthesiologists can qualify for the bonus incentives—but they may nevertheless be subject to the penalties.  To earn the former and avoid the latter, a physician must comply with a set of 15 (17 in Stage...