Large and urban hospitals were much more likely than small and rural hospitals to receive a Medicare incentive payment for meaningful use of electronic health records in 2011, the first year of the incentive program, according to a report released July 26 by the Government Accountability Office. Just 16% (761) of the estimated 4,855 eligible hospitals received incentive payments in 2011, which totaled $1.3 billion, GAO found.
Hospitals paid under the inpatient prospective payment system were more than twice as likely as critical access hospitals to receive an incentive payment. Hospitals in the top third in terms of numbers of beds were 2.4 times more likely than hospitals in the bottom third to have been awarded an incentive payment. About two-thirds of hospitals receiving incentive payments were in urban areas.
[ via AHA News Now ]

