How much has CMS Paid in EMR Incentive So far?

Author: Frank Quinn

Being part of the healthcare industry, from healthcare professionals to health IT consultants, everyone is aware of the government's financial incentive program attached with the meaningful use of EMR. While it is known that a hefty amount of incentive funds has been paid out to physicians, an absolute dollar figure would turn out to be more astonishing. Precisely, so far, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid has paid $5.5 Billion as incentives to eligible healthcare providers and hospitals that have demonstrated meaningful use of EMRs. According to official statistics, in May, physicians and hospitals that qualified for the Medicare program were paid $346 million, while those qualifying for the Medicaid program were awarded $205 million in incentives.

"The government's financial incentive program was aimed at improving the quality of healthcare in the US by establishing evidence based practice through the use of EMR. If physicians meet the criteria and qualify for the incentive funds, why wouldn't the government want to pay them?" says a North Carolina based health IT consultant.

Over time healthcare providers have been receiving incentives based on the adoption and proper implementation, meaningful use, of electronic medical records. According to a leading health IT magazine, that encompasses official statistics, through the month of April; approximately 37 Medicaid providers were paid $3.17 million for having demonstrated meaningful use of EMR. It also states that the increasing number of registrations is evidence that the federal government's incentive program has attracted physicians from almost every state to start preparing for the incentive program. According to statistics, the number of registrations, for both Medicare and Medicaid, increased from 12374 to 238,139 at the end of April. Let go of the meaningful use of EMRs, physicians have also been paid the incentives funds even if they have merely adopted and implemented EMRs. As mentioned in a leading health IT magazine, one of every five providers, for both Medicare and Medicaid, has received incentive payments whether it is for implementing EMR or using it meaningfully.

"There is no doubt that we have experienced an incredulous growth in the number of registration for the program. Moreover, if the government keeps on supporting the campaign the same way, and with later stages of the meaningful use requirements being out, expecting a large number of physicians signing up for the program does not look implausible", says a San Francisco based health IT consultant.

The sooner the physicians comply with the meaningful use objectives, the earlier they would get paid. However, delays in complying with the standard might even end up penalizing the physicians in terms of reduced incentives. The government having paid $5.5 billion in the incentive funds would not want physicians to take the programs lightly. Where it has incentives physicians, it also holds the rights to penalize them in case they fail to ensure compliance with the requirements.

Posted in: Information Technology