The conviction rate for Medicare fraud is largely flat despite the millions recently spent to beef it up.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid on Thursday unveiled a 73-page plan to modernize its computer and data systems, as required by the healthcare reform law.

The plan aims to help the massive agency, which pays about $800 billion in healthcare benefits to 100 million Americans every year, drive the transformation of the U.S. healthcare system into one that pays for quality rather than quantity of care.

The agency, according to a summary of the plan, "is focusing efforts on two fronts: to obtain more robust analytics for quality of care in light of new health care delivery models and drive quality improvements by rewarding health care providers based on quality performance metrics."

To achieve those goals, the plan calls for CMS to establish an "enterprise-level capability to capture and analyze data on resource utilization, health outcomes, and cost, even as the volume and scale of its programs and data rapidly increase."

Implementing electronic health records (EHRs) does not guarantee higher-quality hospital care, according to a new study released Thursday.

EHRs are widely believed to help doctors deliver better and more efficient care because they can be easily shared and, in result, reduce unnecessary medical treatment. But a new Rand Corporation study said EHRs produce mixed results.

The study of more than 2,000 hospitals found facilities with basic EHRs demonstrated significantly better quality care for patients being treated for heart failure. However, hospitals with advanced EHRs did not provide higher-quality care among patients treated for heart attack or pneumonia.

“The introduction of increasingly complex technology into already complex work environments may trigger various unintended interactions that undermine or outweigh the potential benefits of the new technology,” the report said.

Lawmakers included as much as $30 billion in last year’s stimulus act to incentivize the adoption of EHR technology in accordance with federal guidelines to improve quality of care and coordination among providers.

On Thursday, the Department of Health and Human Services announced that registration for Medicare EHR incentives would begin Jan. 3. Registration for Medicaid incentives begins on the same day for doctors and hospitals in Alaska, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Michigan, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas.

The bill passed the House by voice vote but died in the Senate this week after anonymous Republicans placed a hold on the legislation.

Skilled nursing facilities have been charging Medicare for more therapy and daily care over the past few years even though "beneficiary characteristics remained largely unchanged," according to a new report.

The Health and Human Services Department's Office of Inspector General in particular found that payments for "ultra high therapy" — the highest level of therapy, with the highest per diem rates — increased 90 percent from 2006 to 2008 ($5.7 billion to $10.7 billion). Also, the report found that for-profit facilities were "far more likely than nonprofit or government" facilities to bill for higher paying categories of care, and "a number" of facilities had "questionable billing" in 2008.

The report makes four recommendations to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services: 

• monitor overall payments to skilled nursing facilities and adjust rates, if necessary;
• change the current method for determining how much therapy is needed to ensure appropriate payments;
• strengthen monitoring of facilities that are billing for higher-paying payment categories; and
• follow up on the facilities identified as having questionable billing. 

The report adds that the agency agrees with three of the four recommendations. The agency did not concur with the recommendation to change the current method for determining how much therapy is needed but stated it is committed to pursuing additional improvements to the payment system.

The Senate confirmed Michele Leonhart’s nomination to lead the Drug Enforcement Administration Wednesday night, giving the agency an official leader for the first time in more than three years.

Leonhart’s confirmation was in doubt as early as Wednesday morning until Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.) allowed her nomination to go through. Kohl, who heads the Senate’s Aging Committee, released a block on her nomination after receiving assurances from Attorney General Eric Holder that the DEA will work with Congress to ease restrictions on administering painkillers to nursing home patients in emergency situations.

The Senate unanimously confirmed Leonhart before it adjourned for the rest of the year. Leonhart, who had been serving as the acting administrator, was first nominated to the agency’s top spot by President George W. Bush in 2008, but the Senate failed to confirm her before the 110th Congress adjourned.

Obama upset marijuana advocates by renominating her in January. They say Leonhart has taken too tough a stance against states that have legalized marijuana for medicinal purposes.

Sen. Grassley pushed back after Reid said there'd been "too much piddling" on the panel and negotiations were handled "poorly."

Welcome to The Hill's evening roundup of the day's health policy news and advance look at tomorrow's schedule.

Wednesday’s health news:

Congress approve 9/11 benefits: A $4.3 billion bill providing health benefits and compensation to Ground Zero first-responders passed through Congress Wednesday afternoon after Senate Democrats struck a last-minute deal with Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), who had been blocking the bill. Failure to pass the bill Wednesday would have doomed it in the lame duck, and its chances next year were thought to be slim in a Republican-controlled House. http://bit.ly/gBRRPB

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In the final vote of the 111th Congress, House lawmakers approved legislation Wednesday providing healthcare services for 9/11 workers.