CMS: $2.5B in Meaningful Use Payments Distributed So Far

CMS officials recently announced that $2.5 billion in meaningful use  incentive payments had been distributed as of December 2011, Modern Healthcare 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.

Officials made the announcement on Tuesday during a meeting of  the Health IT Policy Committee.

Details of the Announcement

CMS officials noted that as of December 2011:

• $1.38 billion had been paid out under the Medicare meaningful use incentive  program; and
• $1.15 billion had been paid out under the Medicaid meaningful use incentive  program.

Robert Tagalicod — director of CMS’ Office of eHealth Standards and Services  — said the final payout totals could be higher because eligible professionals  can wait until as late as February 2012 to attest to meaningful use for the 2011  calendar year (Conn, Modern Healthcare, 1/10).

Robert Anthony — a specialist in CMS’ Office of eHealth Standards and  Services — said that just during the month of December 2011:

• The Medicare program distributed $464.7 million in incentive payments to  4,997 eligible health care providers and 193 eligible hospitals; and
• States distributed $229.4 million in Medicaid incentive payments to 2,794  eligible health care providers and 230 eligible hospitals.

Jessica Kahn, technical director for health IT at CMS, said that 41 states  launched Medicaid meaningful use programs in 2011, but only 33 have started  distributing incentive payments. Kahn added that in January 2012, Colorado and  Kansas launched Medicaid meaningful use programs, bringing the total number of  states with programs in place to 43.

Officials Post Meaningful Use Data Online

Also during the Health IT Policy Committee meeting, officials noted that CMS  has launched a website containing monthly reports and data on  the meaningful use incentive program.

In addition, National Coordinator for Health IT Farzad Mostashari announced  the creation of a public use file containing de-identified data  from meaningful use attestations. The file contains information such as:

• The date and state of attestations; and
• The health IT vendors or modules used in demonstrating meaningful use  (Mosquera, Government Health IT, 1/10).

Source: iHealthBeat

Comments are closed.