The Central Vermont Hospital in Berlin has received a $1.4 million payment from the federal government because its electronic medical records system has met the requirements of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
The standards help hospitals implement medical record systems designed to improve patient safety, quality of care and efficiency.
The payment is an incentive for meeting the so-called "Meaningful Use" standards. Central Vermont also received $520,000 from the State of Vermont for achieving its Medicaid electronic health record criteria.
Meaningful Use is an incentive program to encourage health care providers across the country to make the switch to electronic health records.
The next stages of the Meaningful Use program take effect in 2014 and 2015. Those stages will provide additional incentive payments.