As the nation’s hospitals gear up to become meaningful users of electronic health record (EHR) systems, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services awarded $5.75 million in federal matching funds for six states and the District of Columbia. The funds will go toward state planning activities to implement the EHR incentive program, set to begin next year.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which established the EHR program, provides a 90 percent federal match for state planning activities to award incentive payments to Medicaid providers, for promoting and implementing meaningful use of EHR programs.

Among the states receiving the funds are West Virginia ($945,000), New Hampshire ($335,000), Rhode Island ($401,000), Indiana ($2.31 million), District of Columbia ($817,000), Delaware ($247,000) and Connecticut ($695,000).
To qualify for the matched funds, states had to develop certain plans revolving around health IT planning and implementation, and the amount of money each state received was based on a formula, a CMS spokesman told DOTmed News by e-mail.

The six states and the District of Columbia granted the funds most recently are part of a rolling announcement that began in November of last year. To date, CMS has awarded $73.32 million to 45 states, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, the spokesman said.

CMS anticipates applications from additional states.

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