Physicians and hospitals signed up in droves in August to participate in the meaningful use incentive program, with 13,000 registering, a 30 percent jump from July, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
As of the end of August, a total of 90,000 eligible physicians, other professionals and hospitals are taking part in the Medicare and Medicaid electronic health records (EHR) incentive programs, said Robert Anthony, a specialist in CMS’ Office of e-Health Standards and Services.
In July, that total was 77,000 providers.
Drilling down into the numbers, CMS paid Medicare incentives to 1,000 physicians in August, nearly double the number of clinicians paid in July, which was double the number of those paid in June, he said. About half of all physicians who have been paid under the Medicare program were paid in August. Physicians who demonstrate the first stage of meaningful use in 2011 or 2012 can receive $18,000.
“When we launched in April, we had a trickle, and that trickle is turning into a faucet opening up a little more. If this trend holds, we’ll have the faucet fully going,” Anthony said at the Sept. 14 meeting of the Health IT Policy Committee, which advises the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT.
Among evidence that has emerged is that providers across the age spectrum are participating in the meaningful use program, “despite the sentiment that was voiced that older physicians wouldn’t be interested since they are close to retiring,” he said. However, he cautioned that the sample is still small.
On the Medicaid side, 23 states have opened their incentive program as of August. When larger states, such as California, start up their programs at the end of the year, “Medicaid payments will spike quickly,” said Robert Tagalicod, director of CMS’ Office of e-Health Standards and Services.
[Q&A: How meaningful use is clashing with ICD-10.]
Close to 1,300 physicians and other eligible professionals received payments, 23 percent more than in July. In August, $150 million in Medicaid incentives were paid, a little less than half of the total year to date, Anthony said.
CMS issued a total of $264 million in payments in August, twice as much as paid out in July, and $652 million for the year to date, he said.
ONC and CMS are coordinating more of their activities and sharing more data, such as about the nearly 100,000 providers who have signed up to work with the 62 regional health IT extensions centers across the country, Tagalicod said.
CMS will be able to “match up provider numbers to the data on geography, practice size and health IT vendor” to understand who is meeting meaningful use and where, he said. The extension centers, which ONC has funded, aim to assist physicians overcome the hurdles of deploying certified EHRs and becoming meaningful users.
