South Leads U.S. in Receiving Medicare EHR Incentive Pay

The South leads the rest of the U.S. in the number of health care providers  who received Medicare meaningful use incentive payments in 2011, according to a new report from the Government Accountability  Office, Modern Healthcare reports.

Background

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.

The stimulus package also requires GAO to issue reports on health IT adoption  (Conn, Modern Healthcare, 7/26).

Total Medicare Meaningful Use Payments

GAO’s latest report found that in 2011, the Medicare meaningful use program  paid:

• $1.3 billion total to 761 hospitals; and
• $1 billion total to 56,585 eligible professionals (Monegain, Healthcare IT News, 7/26).

Key Findings About Hospitals

GAO found that of the hospitals that received Medicare meaningful use  incentive payments in 2011, about:

• 44% were located in the South (Modern Healthcare, 7/26);
• 29% were located in the Midwest;
• 16% were located in the West; and
• 12% were located in the Northeast.

The report also noted that about:

• 67% of the hospitals receiving Medicare meaningful use payments in 2011 were  located in urban areas; and
• 33% were located in rural areas.

Key Findings About Eligible Professionals

Of the eligible professionals who received Medicare meaningful use payments  in 2011, the report found that about:

• 32% were located in the South;
• 27% were located in the Midwest;
• 24% were located in the Northeast; and
• 17% were located in the West.

The report also found that about:

• 89% of the eligible professionals who received Medicare meaningful use  payments in 2011 were located in urban areas; and
• 11% were located in rural areas (GAO report, 7/26).

Source: iHealthBeat

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