OIG: Less than 1% of Medicare EHR incentive payments inappropriate

Less than 1% of the net electronic health record incentive payments Medicare paid to acute-care hospitals between Jan. 1, 2013 and Sept. 30, 2017 did not meet federal requirements, according to a report released yesterday by the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General. OIG said the incorrect net payments occurred because Medicare administrative contractors did not review the supporting documentation for all hospitals, and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services did not include labor and delivery services in the incentive payment calculations. OIG recommends that CMS recover the portion of the $1.3 million in incorrect net incentive payments that are within the recovery period and notify the hospitals associated with the remaining portion so they “can exercise reasonable diligence to investigate and return any identified similar incorrect payments.” CMS concurred with the recommendations, adding that recoupment should only be initiated against final payments.