Payments Promote Meaningful Use

The adoption of electronic medical records continues apace.

Nearly 91,000 health-care providers have received $653.3 million in Medicaid and Medicare incentive payments so far this year for meeting federal guidelines for the meaningful use of electronic health records. The total represents about 71,500 Medicare providers, 17,200 Medicaid providers, and 1,900 hospitals that have met both Medicaid and Medicare EHR requirements.

The figures represent payments made between May 19, when the program began, and the end of August. The data were released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the U.S. Department of Health and Human Resources agency that oversees the incentive payment program, and posted Thursday by ModernHealthcare. Not all states are participating in the program yet.

The payments break down this way:

• $43.4 million for Medicare providers.
• $126.8 million for Medicaid providers.
• $220.9 million in hospital Medicare payments.
• $262.2 million in hospital Medicaid payments.

The program appears to be gaining momentum. Of the $653 million paid out year to date, $264.6 million was disbursed in August, according to the CMS report.