Electronic Health Records: Number and Characteristics of Providers Awarded Medicare Incentive Payments for 2011. Report to Congressional Committee.

摘要

Widespread use of health information technology, such as electronic health records (EHR), has the potential to improve the quality of care patients receive and reduce health care costs. However, studies have estimated that as of 2009, 78 percent of office-based physicians and 91 percent of hospitals had not adopted EHRs. Among other things, the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, enacted as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) provided funding for various activities intended to promote the adoption and meaningful use of certified EHR technology. The largest of these activities, in terms of potential federal expenditures, are the Medicare and Medicaid EHR programs. Starting in 2011, these programs have provided incentive payments for certain providers, including both hospitals and health care professionals such as physicians and dentists, that demonstrate meaningful use of certified EHR technology and meet other program requirements established by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Beginning in 2015, the Medicare EHR program is generally required to begin applying a payment adjustmentthat is, a payment reductionfor Medicare providers that do not demonstrate meaningful use. The Congressional Budget Office estimated total spending for the Medicare and Medicaid EHR programs to be 30 billion from 2011 through 2019, of which spending for the Medicare EHR program accounts for more than half 17.7 billion. This report focuses on the Medicare EHR program.