Topic: First-ever EHR demonstration project to launch in 12 communities, according to HHS press release
HIM Connection, June 24, 2008
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Twelve communities will participate in a first-ever national Medicare demonstration project that will provide incentive payments to physicians who use certified EHRs, according to a June 10 HHS press release. According to the HHS, total payments (including incentive payments as well as bonus payments awarded based on the number of EHR functionalities a physician group has incorporated into its practice) under the five-year project may be up to $58,000 per physician or $290,000 per practice. The demonstration, which may reach as many as 1,200 primary care physician practices, marks an important step toward President Bush’s goal of most Americans having a secure, interoperable EHR by 2014.
“The use of electronic health records, and of health information technology as a whole, has the ability to transform the way health care is delivered in our nation,” said HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt in the press release. “We believe that EHRs can help physicians deliver better, more efficient care for their patients, in part by reducing medical errors. This project is designed to demonstrate these benefits and help increase the use of this technology in practices where adoption has been the slowest at the individual physician and small practice level.”
Although only 12 communities were selected, more than 30 applied for participation. The 12 communities that HHS selected demonstrated an active collaboration among stakeholders, were sizable enough to recruit a sufficient number of primary care physician practices, and exemplified an ability to work with CMS to recruit physician practice participation.
“While the number of sites selected was limited to 12, we are greatly encouraged by the substantial multi-stakeholder initiatives ongoing across the nation. It is my hope that those communities not selected and others that were not yet prepared to apply will continue working together to improve health care—and consider creating their own incentive-based projects to advance the use of EHRs,” said Leavitt in the press release.
For more information and to view the 12 communities selected, visit www.hhs.gov/news/press/2008pres/06/20080610a.html.
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