Of the 13 states that had approved plans for the Medicaid electronic health record incentive program by Jan. 14, 12 reportedly did not plan to verify each meaningful use eligibility requirement, according to a report released by the Department of Human Services Office of Inspector General.
While all 13 states reported they plan to verify information for at least have of the eligibility requirements prior to payment, Kentucky was the only state planning to verify all requirements, the report said. Alaska, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, North Carolina, Michigan, Texas, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Iowa, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin are the other states listed.
The report concluded that for some eligibility requirements, states don't collect the data needed to complete the audit because "the effort would be resource intensive and logistically impractical for most states."
Additionally, the report recommended that states "could strengthen oversight of their EHR incentive programs by focusing post-payment audits on eligibility requirements that cannot be completely verified prior to payment."
Read the HHS Office of Inspector General report on the Medicaid EHR incentive program (pdf).
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While all 13 states reported they plan to verify information for at least have of the eligibility requirements prior to payment, Kentucky was the only state planning to verify all requirements, the report said. Alaska, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, North Carolina, Michigan, Texas, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Iowa, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin are the other states listed.
The report concluded that for some eligibility requirements, states don't collect the data needed to complete the audit because "the effort would be resource intensive and logistically impractical for most states."
Additionally, the report recommended that states "could strengthen oversight of their EHR incentive programs by focusing post-payment audits on eligibility requirements that cannot be completely verified prior to payment."
Read the HHS Office of Inspector General report on the Medicaid EHR incentive program (pdf).
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