CMS to issue first Medicare EHR incentive payments

The first payments for the Medicare EHR Incentive Program will be sent out this week, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Providers that have successfully attested to having met meaningful use and all the other program requirements, can expect to receive their 2011 incentive payments “soon,” the agency stated.

Eligible professionals participating in the Medicare EHR Incentive Program will receive a payment based on 75 percent of their total Medicare allowed charges submitted no later than two months after the end of the 2011 calendar year.

Based on a $24,000 maximum allowed charge for 2011, the maximum incentive payment an eligible professional can receive for the first participation year is $18,000. Incentive payments will not be made to an eligible professional until the eligible professional meets the $24,000 threshold in allowed Medicare charges, CMS said.

Incentive payments to eligible hospitals and critical access hospitals are based on a number of factors, beginning with a $2 million base payment.

Participants will receive their Medicare EHR Incentive Program payment the same way they receive payments for Medicare services, via electronic funds transfer or by paper check. Payments to Medicare providers will be made to the taxpayer identification number (TIN) selected during registration for the Medicare EHR Incentive Program.

“Medicare administrative contractors (MAC), carriers and fiscal intermediaries will not be making these payments. CMS is working with a payment file development contractor to make these payments. Please do not contact your MAC regarding EHR incentive payments,” CMS stated.

To date, more than $83 million in Medicaid incentive payments have been issued to eligible professionals and eligible hospitals participating in the EHR Incentive Program.