Meaningful use incentive payments to hospitals more than doubled to more than $1.9 billion between October 2011 and December 2011, according to CMS, Modern Healthcare reports.
Under the 2009 federal economic stimulus package, health care providers who demonstrate meaningful use of certified electronic health records can qualify for Medicaid and Medicare incentive payments.
According to CMS' latest monthly report, combined payments to physicians and other eligible health care providers increased by 99% between October 2011 and December 2011, to almost $570.4 million.
In addition, the number of active registrants in the meaningful use program increased by 27% to 176,049 during the same period (Conn, Modern Healthcare, 1/18).