When the government's EHR incentive program was first introduced, many commentators remarked that the timetable was too aggressive and did not provide practices with enough time to meet all the regulations. However, now that many physicians are familiar with the meaningful use rules, implementation is up.

In the last couple of weeks the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced that enrollment in the meaningful use incentive program is up and that the agency is on pace to dish out more than $1 billion in payments by year's end, according to Government Health IT.

Christine Kelly, president of CMK Consulting, told Fierce EMR that she only expects these numbers to increase next year. It would have been difficult for most practices to implement an EHR system and qualify for the incentive program all in one year. However, she pointed out that practices are still eligible for full incentive payments if they qualify by the end of 2012.

Kelly added that the fact that more providers understand the program and feel safe that the funds are protected will lead to greater numbers of doctors qualifying for the EHR incentive program next year.