There’s a bit of good news from the Health and Human Service Department's Office of Inspector General: Pennsylvania has been paying hospitals incentives pursuant to the Medicaid EHR program properly, according to the office's latest report.
The report found that the Pennsylvania Department of Health and Human Resources' Department of Medical Assistance Services made about $287.4 million in Medicaid EHR payments between Jan. 1, 2011 and June 30, 2014. About $158.1 million in incentive payments were made to 136 hospitals in the state. The OIG targeted for further review the 31 hospitals that had each received a total incentive payment exceeding $1.5 million. These 31 hospitals received nearly $88,057,620 in payments, representing about 56 percent of the total amount paid during the audit period.
Previously the Government Accountability Office has said improper incentive payments are primary risk to EHR incentive programs, according to the OIG report. This has caused obstacles for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and states overseeing the Medicare and Medicaid EHR incentive programs, it adds.
However, that was not the problem in this audit. The OIG found that the payments made to these 31 hospitals were in accordance with federal and state requirements.
This EHR incentive program audit was one of a series of reports focused on the Medicaid incentive payments being made to hospitals. Of the nine audits conducted previously, only Florida and the District of Columbia were also found to have made incentive payments correctly. Earlier this month the OIG reported that Arizona made incorrect payments to almost all hospitals reviewed, totaling almost $15 million in overpayments.
To learn more:
- here’s the report