For most providers, the certification for meaningful use will cost whatever the software vendor decides to charge. This will be a major effort for most vendors; most will feel it’s only reasonable to spread the cost of certification among the customer base who will benefit from the effort. 
The ONC stated that the Medicare/Medicaid incentives were intended to pay for the software improvements.
It’s been years since CCHIT certification was created for the benefit of providers and patients, and most software vendors serving our Health & Human Services niche market still haven’t become certified. That’s because behavioral health standards development has lagged behind physical healthcare efforts. A couple of larger companies in our sector got tired of waiting (and could afford the effort), so they became certified for ambulatory environments, but most companies were reluctant to lay out over $25,000 in hard-earned cash for certification that wasn’t even required for our sector yet. And that didn’t include the additional programming effort that few companies have staff to perform, which could push the CCHIT certification into many more hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Now, with the advent of the Medicare/Medicaid incentives becoming a reality, software vendors are playing a waiting game and saving their pennies. The certification effort will be substantial, reducing support resources for most manufacturers. It’s going to be interesting to see who bothers with this and who doesn’t, simply because they can’t see the payoff.
Here is the short story of particulars about what certification for eligible professionals will cost a software vendor (outpatient environments): •With previous certification o One time cost: $50,000 – $150,000 •Without previous certification o One time cost: $1,200,000 – $3,600,000
Based on the costs for vendors who have not previously become certified, the estimated average upgrade cost is $2,400,000 per software vendor (except for the two who are already certified in some capacity).
Next time, I’ll wrap up this discussion topic with tips on how to get the ballpark estimate you need to budget and consequently determine whether you want to continue considering taking advantage of Medicare / Medicaid incentives.
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