Two States Cut Medicaid MU Checks

Medicaid programs in two states on Jan. 5 issued their first electronic health records meaningful use incentive checks, two days after registration for the Medicare and Medicaid programs started.


Medicaid programs in two states on Jan. 5 issued their first electronic health records meaningful use incentive checks, two days after registration for the Medicare and Medicaid programs started.

Medicaid's initial criteria for demonstrating meaningful use is very basic--an organization must show it is using or adopting a certified EHR. Consequently, federal officials expected Medicaid payments to start being made in January as 11 state agencies started their incentive programs this month.

University of Kentucky Healthcare received the first hospital payment, $2.86 million, which is about a third of the total meaningful use payments that the hospital expects from Medicaid. In Oklahoma, two physicians at Gastorf Family Clinic in Durant received first-year checks of $21,250 each. That's one-third the maximum amount that an eligible provider can receive under the Medicaid program.

Medicaid programs now accepting registrations to receive incentive payments are Alaska, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Michigan, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas. Registration will open in February in California, Missouri and North Dakota. Other states on a rolling basis will launch their Medicaid meaningful use incentive programs during the spring and summer.

For more information and to register, visit cms.gov/ehrincentiveprograms.

--Joseph Goedert