As of the end of December 2013, CMS had doled out more than $19 billion in incentive payments to eligible hospitals and health care providers participating in the meaningful use program, Government Health IT reports.
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.
Details of Payments
During a Health IT Policy Committee meeting, CMS announced that nearly 441,000 eligible hospitals and professionals had registered for meaningful use as the end of December 2013.
Robert Anthony, deputy director at CMS’ Office of E-Health Standards and Services, said that as of the end of year:
- 90% of eligible hospitals had made a financial commitment to an EHR;
- 63% of Medicare- and Medicaid-eligible professionals had financially committed to an EHR;
- 88% of eligible hospitals had received an EHR incentive payment; and
- 78% of Medicaid-eligible professionals had received an EHR incentive payment.
CMS also noted that about:
- 60% of Medicare-eligible professionals were meaningful users of EHRs; and
- 20% of Medicaid-eligible professionals were meaningful users.
Meanwhile, CMS also released the results of the 2013 National Electronic Health Records Survey, which found that 19% of physicians who plan to participate in the meaningful use program had adopted 14 of 17 meaningful use Stage 2 objectives (Manos, Government Health IT, 2/4).
Stakeholders Raiser Concerns
In related news, at the Health IT Policy Committee’s meaningful use workgroup meeting, stakeholders raised concerns about the program’s complexity and rigidity, Modern Healthcare reports.
They noted that vendors have been slow to test and certify their EHR systems for Stage 2 of the meaningful use program, which has delayed health care providers’ implementation. As a result, providers are pushing for more flexibility.
Mari Savickis, director of federal affairs for the American Medical Association, said, “[S]ome [of] our physicians are still in Stage 1,” adding, “Without flexibility, some of them will be dropping out” of the program.
Similarly, Mark Segal, vice president of government and industry affairs for GE Healthcare, said that the focus of Stage 3 “should be on greater use of Stage 2 capabilities” rather than developing even stricter regulations.
The stakeholders suggested that the workgroup fix such issues with Stage 2 of the meaningful use program before issuing additional regulations for Stage 3 criteria (Conn, Modern Healthcare, 2/4). Source
