The CMS has awarded Anthem subsidiary National Government Services a contract to help it disburse incentive payments to Medicare providers that have met the standards for meaningfully using electronic health records.
As part of the nearly $7 million agreement, the claims processing company will make payments and process meaningful-use audit and cost-report audit demand letters, among other duties. The contract has one base year and four option years, according to the award notice the CMS released on Tuesday.
Medicare incentive payments are made to physicians and hospitals that demonstrate meaningful use of certified EHR technology. Payment reductions to healthcare professionals who fail to become meaningful users of EHRs begin in 2015.
In April, HHS' Office of Inspector General said it would begin reviewing payments made to providers to ensure that none were made in error.
Federal records suggest NGS is the incumbent contractor for the work. On its website, the company says it has helped provide meaningful-use related payments to more than 2 million providers and 23,000 hospitals.
An NGS spokesperson didn't immediately return a request for comment.
