MU Payments Sail By $16 Billion

As of the end of September, the federal government now reports that a significant number of hospitals and eligible providers are now actively participating in the electronic health record incentive program, with 425,000 registered for the program and 325,00 unique providers having received some kind of incentive payment so far.

At the Nov. 6 meeting of the HIT Policy Committee, Rob Anthony, deputy director at the CMS Office of E-Health Standards and Service, said registration in September represents a slight decrease from other months, but this is expected. “This is the calm before the storm,” Anthony said. “We will continue to see an upward trend of these numbers as we move into January and February.”

As of September's end, Anthony reports that CMS has paid out a little bit over $16.5 billion to date and the agency expects to be paying out “much more” in January and February as returning providers come back to participate in a full year of attestation.