WASHINGTON –The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has paid out more than $37 million to providers under the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs this year.
The March 25 announcement came via Twitter. “Get your share,” the CMS advised its Twitter followers. The announcement changes what CMS officials had said earlier this year, when they planned to mail incentive checks beginning in May.
Despite the contention in Washington over healthcare reform, the EHR incentive program continues to gain momentum. The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology reported earlier this year that some 14,000 eligible providers had registered for the program since it opened Jan. 3, with more coming in on a daily basis.
On March 18, CMS updated its EHR incentive program FAQ webpage, answering more than 100 questions about the program, 45 of which are on meaningful use Stage 1.
The agency has recently faced controversy over the measurements it proposes to use to qualify providers for incentive payments in 2013 under Stage 2 of the program. Many providers feel the suggested measures are too hard to achieve in the time available.
A Health IT Policy Committee workgroup on March 22 discussed options for slowing down the pace so providers can qualify, while maintaining the adoption momentum the government would like to achieve.
At a March 29 Health IT Standards Committee meeting, Doug Fridsma, MD, the ONC’s director of standards and interoperability, said the ONC plans to release its proposed rule for standards and certification criteria for Stage 2 of meaningful use at the end of the year.
“We need to begin to reduce alternatives and drive towards those vocabularies and terminologies that are going to be most usable,” Fridsma said. “We also need to be pragmatic about what we want people to exchange.”
Providing options only makes it more complex for vendors who are developing updates for EHRs, Fridsma said. The ONC wants to focus on vocabulary centered on lab reporting, care transitions, public heath reporting and quality measures.
Mary Mosquera, Senior Editor at Government Health IT, contributed to this article.
