As of the end of August, $6.9 billion in meaningful use incentive payments had been distributed to more than 143,000 physicians and hospitals, according to CMS estimates, Government Health IT 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.
CMS officials released the estimates on Thursday during a Health IT Policy Committee meeting. Final CMS data will be available online later this month.
Incentive Payment Details
Robert Anthony -- a specialist in CMS' Office of eHealth Standards and Services -- said that the agency distributed about $500 million in incentive payments during the month of August, including:
- $325 million to Medicare providers; and
- $175 million to Medicaid providers.
As of July, about 18% of eligible professionals were meaningful users of EHRs and 55% of eligible hospitals had received a meaningful use payment, Anthony said (Mosquera, Government Health IT, 9/6).
According to CMS' July report, 3,884 hospitals and 267,221 physicians and other eligible professionals were enrolled in the meaningful use incentive program.
Of those, about 93% of the eligible hospitals and 48% of the eligible professionals had received incentive payments (Conn, Modern Healthcare, 9/6).