The Hospital and Health System Association of Pennsylvania announced that the HHS' Office of the Inspector General will investigate EHR incentive payments in the state.
The OIG will investigate whether EHR incentives were paid properly to hospitals in the state. Hospitals in Pennsylvania do not necessarily have to do anything, although the OIG has already contacted one hospital, according to the Pennsylvania Business Daily.
Although the state was informed, the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services has not yet met with the OIG. The HHA will monitor the investigation and update hospitals as necessary, according to the report.
This is not the first OIG audit of EHR incentive payments. Massachusetts was selected for audit in 2014, and the OIG investigation found that the state had made faulty payments to 19 hospitals, a $3.3 million error, according to the OIG's report. Louisiana was also found to have made incorrect payments in an investigation completed in August 2014, resulting in a net overpayment of $1.4 million. The OIG announced it would conduct more EHR incentive audits last year.