TOPEKA, Kan. – The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) paid eligible providers and hospitals a total of $46,614,849 during the first 12 months of the Medicaid Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Program. KDHE’s Division of Health Care Finance is responsible for issuing the payments through funding from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The joint federal-state program is part of Kansas’ ongoing Health Information Technology insertion.

Because the Kansas Medicaid program, KanCare, currently covers approximately 13 percent of the Kansas population, the Medicaid EHR Incentive Program plays a key role in supporting widespread HIT adoption in Kansas. KDHE Secretary and State Health Officer Robert Moser, M.D. said that, compared to paper records, EHRs improve the protection of patient information and enhance both the safety of the patient and the coordination of care when providers are able to access, more quickly, complete information about a patient’s health. “Electronic health records benefit everyone involved—the patient, the family and the provider—especially during times when every second counts,” he said.

Recipients of EHR incentive payments are categorized as either Eligible Hospitals (EHs) or Eligible Professionals (EPs). Today, March 22, marks one year since payments were first made to Kansas EHs and EPs. To date, 597 EPs have received a total of $23,783,513, while 52 EHs have received $22,831,335.