Strong Interest in Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs

In a press release earlier this week, CMS announced that there has been strong interest in early registration for the Medicare and Medicaid EHR (Electronic Health Record) Incentive Programs.

In January, more than 21,000 providers initiated registration for the programs, and four states began issuing Medicaid incentive payments, totaling $20,425,550. In particular, the press release highlighted the following successes:
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology announced that as of Fri Feb 11, more than 45,000 providers requested information or registration help from 62 Regional Extension Centers.
On Wed Jan 5, Kentucky made an initial payment of $2.86-million to a teaching hospital, University of Kentucky Healthcare. On the same day, Kentucky disbursed an incentive payment of $1.3-million to Central Baptist Hospital, and Oklahoma issued incentive payments to two physicians at the Gastorf Family Clinic of Durant, Oklahoma, totaling $42,500 ($21,250 each), for having adopted certified EHRs.
On Wed Jan 12, Louisiana announced a payment of $63,750 to Winn Community Health Center, the first federally-qualified health center in the nation to receive an incentive payment. The incentive payment consisted of $21,250 for each of three eligible professionals at the clinic.
During the week of Mon Jan 17, Iowa issued its first Medicaid EHR incentive payments in the amount of $21,250 each for two eligible professionals.

CMS Administrator Donald Berwick, MD, said “This strong early interest in the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs among providers and state Medicaid programs is most welcome and very encouraging. We encourage early adoption, and we’re seeing the registration numbers continue on an upward trajectory. The valuable feedback we’ve seen in these early weeks of the program helps us to fine-tune our list of frequently-asked-questions and other resources to increase providers’ understanding of the incentive programs and help them in getting signed up.”

Want more information about the EHR Incentive Programs? Visit the EHR Incentive Programs website for the latest news and updates on the EHR Incentive Programs, and join the CMS EHR listserv to stay up-to-date.




Dallas L Alford IV, CPA is a licensed Certified Public Accountant in the state of North Carolina and owner of Atlantic Financial Consulting, a consulting firm that provides comprehensive medical billing services, practice management consulting, coding audits, Medicare compliance, Medicare RAC support and other general medical practice consulting services.
To learn more about Atlantic Financial Consulting you may visit their website at http://atlanticfinancial.us or contact Dallas L Alford IV, CPA directly at 1 888-428-2555, Ext. 200.