The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has paid out nearly $37.6 million so far in electronic health record incentives, according to a CMS posting on its Twitter page March 25.
CMS has also registered 25,217 eligible healthcare physicians and hospitals for its incentive programs.
The agency continues its webinars to help healthcare providers participate in the CMS Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive programs.
On April 1, CMS will host a national provider education call for physicians and other eligible professionals about registration for the incentive program for Medicare. On April 6, CMS will host a second national call for hospitals about registration for the Medicare and Medicaid programs.
Interested providers can access registration through CMS at its incentive program Web site.
A listserv is also available to inform participants of upcoming deadlines and to get answers to questions and concerns that CMS has gathered from providers.
Physicians and hospitals should be aware of certain dates coming up through the fall, including:
- April 2011 – Attestation for the Medicare EHR Incentive Program begins.
- May 2011 – EHR Incentive Payments expected to begin.
- July 3, 2011 – Last day for eligible hospitals to begin their 90-day reporting period to demonstrate meaningful use for the Medicare EHR Incentive Program.
- September 30, 2011 - Last day of the federal fiscal year. Reporting year ends for eligible hospitals and critical access hospitals.
- October 1, 2011 – Last day for eligible professionals to begin their 90-day reporting period for calendar year 2011 for the Medicare EHR Incentive Program.
