The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced major gains in the implementation of health information technology, saying the number of hospitals using it has more than doubled during the last two years.
Data also show nearly 2,000 hospitals and more than 41,000 physicians have received $3.1 billion in incentive payments for ensuring meaningful use of health IT, particularly certified electronic health records.
Friday's announcement by HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius includes information from a new survey, conducted by the American Hospital Association and reported by the HHS Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT, which found that the proportion of U.S. hospitals that had adopted EHRs has more than doubled from 16% to 35% between 2009 and 2011. And 85% of hospitals reported that by 2015 they intend to take advantage of the incentive payments made available through the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs.
The announcement also highlights new data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services detailing $3.12 billion in incentive payments the agency has made to physicians, hospitals and other healthcare providers that have started to meaningfully use EHRs to improve the quality of patient care. In January alone, CMS provided $519 million to eligible providers. EHR incentive payments can total as much as $44,000 under the Medicare EHR Incentive Program and $63,750 under the Medicaid EHR Incentive Program.
The Obama administration provides financial support to eligible healthcare professionals and hospitals to make the switch to health IT and certified EHRs through the incentive programs, funded by the HITECH Act provisions of the 2009 Recovery Act. The administration has also created a nationwide network of 62 regional extension centers to provide technical guidance and resources to help eligible healthcare providers participate in the EHR incentive programs and meaningfully use certified EHRs.
For more information about the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs, visit www.cms.gov/EHRIncentivePrograms. For more on the HHS Recovery Act health IT programs, visit http://1.usa.gov/wrUPCW.
Data also show nearly 2,000 hospitals and more than 41,000 physicians have received $3.1 billion in incentive payments for ensuring meaningful use of health IT, particularly certified electronic health records.
Friday's announcement by HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius includes information from a new survey, conducted by the American Hospital Association and reported by the HHS Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT, which found that the proportion of U.S. hospitals that had adopted EHRs has more than doubled from 16% to 35% between 2009 and 2011. And 85% of hospitals reported that by 2015 they intend to take advantage of the incentive payments made available through the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs.
The announcement also highlights new data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services detailing $3.12 billion in incentive payments the agency has made to physicians, hospitals and other healthcare providers that have started to meaningfully use EHRs to improve the quality of patient care. In January alone, CMS provided $519 million to eligible providers. EHR incentive payments can total as much as $44,000 under the Medicare EHR Incentive Program and $63,750 under the Medicaid EHR Incentive Program.
The Obama administration provides financial support to eligible healthcare professionals and hospitals to make the switch to health IT and certified EHRs through the incentive programs, funded by the HITECH Act provisions of the 2009 Recovery Act. The administration has also created a nationwide network of 62 regional extension centers to provide technical guidance and resources to help eligible healthcare providers participate in the EHR incentive programs and meaningfully use certified EHRs.
For more information about the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs, visit www.cms.gov/EHRIncentivePrograms. For more on the HHS Recovery Act health IT programs, visit http://1.usa.gov/wrUPCW.
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