Medicare Paid Doctors, Hospitals $6.3 Billion To Adopt E-Health Records

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services paid out $6.3 billion to hospitals and medical professionals in 2012 to adopt electronic health record systems, the Government Accountability Office reported Thursday.

The 2009 Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health – or HITECH -- Act provided money to spur hospitals and doctors to use certified EHR technology, with initial payments in 2011. The underlying supposition was that EHRs have the potential to improve the quality of care patients receive and reduce health care costs

Clinicians -- including doctors, osteopaths, and more -- are eligible to receive $44,000 over five years under the Medicare EHR incentive program and up to $63,750 over six years under the Medicaid EHR incentive program, with a base payment of $2 million to hospitals.