WASHINGTON – Federal officials released the final rule on meaningful use Tuesday, making it easier for providers to qualify for funding for the adoption of electronic health records.

The 864-page final rule, published in the New England Journal of Medicine several weeks later than anticipated,  outlines the qualifications providers must meet to achieve the meaningful use of electronic health records.

Physicians who provide Medicaid services are eligible for up to $63,750 in incentives over the next six years, while Medicare physicians can earn a maximum of almost $44,000. Hospitals can earn up to $2 million a year. Providers who hope to collect the maximum incentives available must begin collecting data using the new requirements beginning this October, with payments beginning in 2011.

At a press conference Tuesday morning, federal healthcare officials praised the advance of electronic health records while acknowledging the difficulties providers face with adoption.

According to David Blumenthal, the National Coordinator for Health InformationTechnology, the final rule differs from the proposed rule issued last January. It allows providers more flexibility in choosing which measures to use for qualifications.

According to Blumenthal, the proposed rule required doctors to comply with 23 measures and hospitals to compley with 25 measures. The government received more than 2,000 comments on the rule, many of them asking for more flexibility in allowing clinicians to qualify.

Blumenthal said the final rule took those comments into account by changing the rule to be more flexible.

He said the final rule requires doctors during Stage 1 of adoption to comply with a set of 15 core meaningful use objectives, while hospitals are required to comply with 14 core objectives. In addition, hospitals and doctors will have to choose five more objectives from a "menu" of 10, he said. The remaining objectives will be deferred to Stage 2 of adoption.

The final rule also reduced the percentage of electronic prescriptions that a doctor is required to make from 75 percent to 40 percent, Blumenthal said.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said the Federation of American Hospitals is an "enthusiastic supporter" of the new rule. The federal government hopes other groups will join them, she said.

Blumenthal, a physician, said he is confident the use of electronic health records will become a core professional competency among physicians and help them to lead the way in adoption. Until then, he said, the government will encourage healthcare IT adoption through financial incentives such as those set up under the meaningful use rule.

The government will also supply "shoulder-to-shoulder" support for providers through the regional extension centers, he added.