News Feature | March 20, 2014

Meaningful Use Payouts Approach $22 Billion

Christine Kern

By Christine Kern, contributing writer

Meaningful Use Payouts

As of January 31, 2014, CMS had shelled out almost $22 Billion in MU payments

Government Health IT reports that as of the end of January 2014, CMS has paid out nearly $21.9 Billion in MU incentives. Elisabeth Myers of the Office of E-Health Standards and Services at CMS told the March 11 HIT Policy Committee meeting that figure is up from $19.2 billion at the end of December.

The report demonstrates that in January, the federal government added 7,762 more registrants to the EHR incentive program, bringing the total number of eligible provider registrants to 448,750, Myer said. Further, according to Myer:

  • Approximately 89 percent of all eligible hospitals have received an EHR incentive payment for either MU or AIU;
  • Nearly 9 out of 10 eligible hospitals have made a financial commitment to an EHR;
  • Approximately 60 percent or 3 out of every 5 Medicare EPs are meaningful users of EHRs;
  • Approximately 79 percent or nearly 4 out of every 5 Medicaid EPs of have received an EHR incentive payment;
  • 21 percent of Medicaid EPs are meaningful users;
  • More than 65 percent – 2 out of every 3 Medicare and Medicaid EPs have made a financial commitment to an EHR;
  • Over 347,000 Medicare and Medicaid EPs have received an EHR incentive payment.

Other developments at the HIT Committee meeting included approval of recommendations for Stage 3 of meaningful use, and a workgroup proposed a 5-factor framework for establishing a voluntary EHR certification for behavioral health as well as long-term and post-acute care setting that helps vendors and providers alike. 

Government Health IT reports that the recommendations include 19 measures as part of the proposal, presented as a Stage 3 matrix developed by the meaningful use workgroup. This document will be submitted to Kathleen Sebelius, HHS secretary for consideration in developing the final Stage 3 MU requirements. More public hearings and a notice of proposed rulemaking to inform HHS’s final requirements are expected to follow in 2015.

The 5-factor framework included the following points:

  • advance a national priority or legislative mandate
  • align with existing federal/state programs
  • use the existing technology pipeline
  • build on existing stakeholder support
  • appropriately balance the costs and benefits of a certification program