DURANT, OK –

The Gastorf Family Clinic, a small, family-owned clinic in Durant, Okla., was the first in the country to receive a physician-paid incentive check under the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive programs.

The Oklahoma Health Care Authority issued payments of $21,250 to Melissa Gastorf, MD and Jeffrey Gastorf, MD, on January 5, two days after registration for the programs opened.

The clinic has been using an electronic health record from Austin, Texas-based e-MDs since 2005. It has recently been working with the Oklahoma Foundation for Medical Quality, the state’s Health Information Technology Regional Extension Center, to apply for the incentive program.

"We are pleased to support the Gastorf Family Clinic on their EHR journey, and we are excited about this milestone event," said Dale Bratzler, chief executive of the OFMQ. "We hope providers everywhere will recognize that dedicated efforts towards meaningful use of EHRs will pay off and the Regional Extension Center program is here to help in the process."

Staff at the clinic said an EHR has offered their practice the necessary structure to keep the billing and business organized with the flexibility to accommodate the clinic's specific medical needs.

"Partnering with e-MDs as our EHR vendor and working with OFMQ ensured that we could meet all of the requirements of meaningful use," said Darrell Ledbetter, the practice manager at the Gastorf Family Clinic. "We are very excited to have received the first payment of the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Program and pleased that both of our physicians were eligible professionals for the incentives, netting our clinic a check for $42,500, the first year's installment in the program."

"We feel honored that one of our clinics has been chosen by CMS to be the first ambulatory practice in the nation to receive incentive funds for the use of a certified EHR," added Michael Stearns, MD, president and CEO of e-MDs. "We look forward to working with the Oklahoma Foundation for Medical Quality and the Gastorf Family Clinic to help their providers qualify for additional incentives tied to the meaningful use of our certified EHR."