CMS Begins Pay-Outs of Medicare EHR Incentives

The first incentive payments from Medicare officially rolled out to physicians and hospitals last week to those successfully demonstrating Meaningful Use of electronic health records during Stage 1.

On the physician front, an early awardee was Kansas Academy of Family Physicians President Jennifer Brull, MD, of Plainville, who received an $18,000 bonus check from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). She operates a solo practice with a patient panel of about 8,000 in rural northwest Kansas.

Brull told the AAFP News that her practice went live with an EHR in 2008. "I have been actively working toward Meaningful Use since the criteria were published in July 2010," she said.