As of last month, 76,612 eligible health care professionals and hospitals had received $4.5 billion in Medicare and Medicaid incentive payments through the meaningful use program, according to new CMS data, Government Health IT reports (Mosquera, Government Health IT, 4/20).
Under the 2009 federal economic stimulus package, health care providers who demonstrate meaningful use of certified electronic health record systems can qualify for Medicaid and Medicare incentive payments.
Overall Progress in Meaningful Use Program
As of March, CMS said that:
- 44,014 eligible professionals had received $792 million in Medicare incentive payments (Conn, Modern Healthcare, 4/20).
- 911 hospitals had received $1.6 billion in Medicare incentive payments (CMS report, March 2012);
- 29,931 eligible professionals had received $628 million in Medicaid incentive payments (Modern Healthcare, 4/20); and
- 1,756 hospitals had received nearly $1.5 billion in Medicaid incentive payments (CMS report, March 2012).
CMS noted that Medicaid EHR incentive programs currently are operating in 43 states and that 42 states have started issuing payments (Modern Healthcare, 4/20).
March Data for Meaningful Use Program
The data show that in March:
- 8,651 eligible professionals received $155.7 million in Medicare meaningful use incentive payments;
- 115 hospitals received $184.2 million in Medicare meaningful use incentive payments;
- 5,201 eligible professionals received $108.9 million in Medicaid incentive payments for adopting, implementing or upgrading to a certified EHR system;
- 163 hospitals received $145.2 million in Medicaid incentive payments for adopting, implementing or upgrading to a certified EHR system;
- 10 eligible professionals received $212,500 in Medicaid incentive payments for demonstrating meaningful use of a certified EHR system; and
- 21 hospitals received $12.8 million in Medicaid incentive payments for demonstrating meaningful use of a certified EHR system (CMS report, March 2012).
During the first year of the Medicaid meaningful use program, which ended in 2011, eligible health care providers only needed to attest that they had adopted, implemented or upgraded to a certified EHR system. To continue receiving Medicaid incentive payments during the second year of the program, eligible health care providers need to meet certain criteria to demonstrate meaningful use of a certified EHR system (iHealthBeat, 4/19).
Registration for Meaningful Use Program
The CMS report found that the number of hospitals registered for the meaningful use program increased by 13% during the first quarter of 2012, while the number of eligible professionals registered for the program increased by nearly 29% (Modern Healthcare, 4/20).
Joseph Kuchler, a spokesperson for CMS, said the organization is pleased with participation in the meaningful use program. He said, "We actually anticipated a somewhat slower start due to providers needing to both acquire and implement their certified EHRs and because it was really the earliest adopters we saw being paid through mid-2011" (Dolan, American Medical News, 4/19).