GAO Follows The EHR Incentive Money Trail

A new report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) shows the median Medicaid EHR incentive payment received by hospitals in 2011 was $613,512. The amount of Medicaid EHR incentive payments awarded to each hospital ranged from $7,528 to $7.2 million, the Dec. 13 GAO report found.

Some 1,964 hospitals and 45,962 professionals were awarded a total of approximately $2.7 billion in Medicaid EHR incentive payments for 2011. These 1,964 hospitals, which represented 39 percent of the 5,013 eligible hospitals, were awarded a total of $1.7 billion in Medicaid EHR incentive payments for 2011, according to GAO.

The report showed that participation rates, as well as total payments, were higher for hospitals in the Medicaid EHR program when compared to the Medicare EHR program, though the median payment amount in the Medicaid EHR program was less than half as large. About 50 percent of hospitals accounted for about 80 percent of the total amount of Medicaid incentive payments awarded to hospitals.

Among hospitals awarded a Medicaid EHR incentive payment for 2011, GAO found that...