NY Medicaid EHR Incentive Program

Medicaid Patient Volume Overview

For a healthcare practitioner to be eligible to receive an incentive payment with the NY Medicaid EHR Incentive Program, the provider must meet all program eligibility requirements. In addition to the information found on this webpage, healthcare practitioners can attend the live eligible professional (EP) webinars (look for EP labeled webinars on the schedule) to find answers to any questions about the NY Medicaid EHR Incentive Program and program eligibility requirements. To view the monthly webinar schedule please click here.

The table below gives a brief overview of each Medicaid Patient Volume methodology. Please visit each section below for more information.

Standard Patient Volume This is the recommended methodology for calculating patient volume. This calculation is Medicaid encounters divided by total encounters.
Alternate Patient Volume This methodology is recommended for EPs with significant managed care populations. The Patient Panel Decision Tool is available to assist you in determining if you need to utilize this methodology.
Aggregate Patient Volume This methodology can be utilized by EPs in a group practice or clinic.
Needy Patient Volume This methodology can be utilized by EPs working in either a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) or Rural Health Center (RHC). 3 additional encounter types can be attributed to this methodology.

Medicaid Patient Volume

Eligible Professionals (EP) who enroll in the Medicaid EHR Incentive Program must demonstrate each year that at least 30% of their patient volume is attributed to Medicaid during a 90 day reporting period they choose (see section below for more details). EPs must also attest to the Medicaid patient volume requirement by attesting to either the standard or alternative patient volume methods in the attestation portal. Additionally, EPs in groups have an option to combine the totals of all EPs in the group and attest using aggregate totals. There is assistance available for those who have difficulty assembling their Medicaid Patient Volume. Medicaid encounter types which can be counted towards both methods are:

  • Medicaid Fee-For-Service
  • Medicaid Managed Care

Standard Patient Volume Method (Recommended)

NY Medicaid´s recommended approach for EPs is to attest to the Medicaid patient volume using the standard Medicaid patient volume. Using this method, an EP counts the number of Medicaid-enrolled patient encounters during the 90-day reporting period, and divides that number by the total number of patient encounters over the same period.

  • Total Medicaid Encounters ÷ Total Encounters

Alternate Patient Volume Method

NY Medicaid provides an alternative approach for those EPs with significant managed care populations. It is recommended that an EP first try to use the standard patient volume method, which is simply total Medicaid encounters divided by total encounters. If an EP cannot meet at least 30% Medicaid threshold (20% for pediatricians), then the EP should try the alternative patient panel calculation, which is the sum of Medicaid patient panel and Medicaid encounters divided by the sum of total patient panel and total encounters.

  • Medicaid Patient Panel + Medicaid Encounters
                                  Divided by (÷)
             Total Patient Panel + Total encounters

Important Details:

  • Patients must be on the provider´s panel during the 90-day reporting period.
  • Each patient on the panel must have had at least one encounter two years prior to the start of the 90-day reporting period.
  • The Medicaid and total encounters on the right side of the equation are only those during the 90-day reporting period and must be unduplicated, i.e. they cannot be encounters from panel patients on the left side of the equation.
  • This same equation applies to making a determination for Needy Individual patient volume, where "Medicaid" is substituted by "Needy Individual."

Not sure if you need to use the Alternate Patient Volume Method? Please review our Patient Panel Decision Tool.

Aggregate Medicaid Patient Volume

Eligible Professionals (EP) in a group practice or clinic may use the practice or clinic´s aggregate patient volume as a proxy for their individual Medicaid patient volume, subject to the following restrictions:

  • To take advantage of this option, all EPs in the practice or clinic (regardless of how much of their overall practice volume is within the practice or clinic) must use the group numbers (i.e., if one EP uses the group´s aggregate numbers, another EP in the practice may not use his/her individual values, and vice-versa).
  • EPs for whom the aggregate patient volume is not an appropriate proxy (i.e., providers who exclusively see Medicare or self-pay patients) may NOT use the aggregate patient volume.
  • Aggregate values must represent the entire practice or clinic´s patient volume and not limit it in any way (including not limiting it to only patients seen by EPs).

A group opting to use the aggregate patient volume may use either the standard or the alternative method (as described above) for calculating patient volume.

Practicing Predominantly in a FQHC / RHC, and the Needy Patient Volume

Eligible professionals (EP) who practice predominantly in a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) or Rural Health Center (RHC) are eligible to use the Needy Patient Volume calculation to meet the Medicaid patient volume requirement. The Needy Patient Volume allows an EP to add three additional encounter types to the numerator of the patient volume calculation and follows the same guidelines as the Medicaid patient volume. The EPs must attest to the Needy patient volume requirement by attesting to the standard or alternative patient volume methods in MEIPASS.

Needy encounters that can be counted toward the Needy Patient volume are:

  • Medicaid Fee-For-Service
  • Medicaid Managed Care
  • Child Health Plus
  • Uncompensated Care
  • Sliding Scale
Type of Service Medicaid Encounter Needy Encounter
Medicaid Fee-For-Service
Medicaid Managed Care
Child Health Plus  
Uncompensated Care  
Sliding Scale  

90 Day Reporting Period Guidance

Payment Years 2011-2012

This patient volume reporting period must be entirely within the calendar year (CY) prior to the payment year and it must be "representative" of the provider´s overall practice, but otherwise each EP is free to select any 90 consecutive days as the patient volume reporting period.

Payment Year 2013 and beyond

This patient volume reporting period must any consecutive 90-day period within the calendar year (CY) prior to the payment year or preceding 12-month period from the date of the attestation*. The patient volume recorded within this 90-day period must be "representative" of the provider´s overall practice.

Additionally, the same or overlapping patient volume reporting period may not be used for multiple payment years. See FAQ EP92 for details.

*Expanded Reporting Period Disclaimer: Please be aware that it may take an additional 90 days to validate your attestation if you select a 90-day reporting period up to the date of attestation.