FEDERAL HITECH ACT — eligible physicians could receive up to $44,000 over five years and hospitals up to $15.9 million if they institute and make “meaningful” use of electronic health records.[
Read the entire article at http://www.law.com/jsp/legaltechnology/pubArticleLT.jsp?id=1202432957427&Electronic_Health_Records_Facing_the_Issues
FEDERAL HITECH ACT
The stimulus package contains several legislative and administrative initiatives to promote the use of health information technology and electronic health records in Medicare and Medicaid. The statute is designed to “assist health care providers to adopt, implement, and effectively use certified EHR technology that allows for the electronic exchange and use of health information.” The law allocates more than $19 billion for health care technology implementation, including $17 billion in incentives for health care IT adoption, in the form of increases in Medicare fees. In essence, it gives certain eligible providers incentive payments, beginning in fiscal year 2011, for the adoption and “meaningful use” of a certified health care IT system.
When the incentive period expires, the statute will induce continued digitalization through deterrence. For example, those physicians and hospitals that have not adopted EHR technology by 2015 will be assessed financial penalties in the form of lower Medicare fee reimbursement.
Under the plan, eligible physicians could receive up to $44,000 over five years and hospitals up to $15.9 million if they institute and make “meaningful” use of electronic health records.[FOOTNOTE 1] Currently, “meaningful use” is a vague standard that will be developed by the Department of Health and Human Services by the end of 2009 and closely watched by software makers that need to market their EHR software packages to physicians as making “meaningful use” of EHR and therefore qualifying physicians for stimulus money reimbursement.
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