ONC: 4 in 5 Hospitals Will Claim EHR Incentives

Four-fifths of the nation's hospitals and 41% of office-based physicians plan to cash in on as much as $27 billion in federal incentives for adoption and meaningful use of electronic health records technology, according to survey data from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. 

The survey information was released Thursday on the first day of the registration period for the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs. 

David Blumenthal, MD, the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, says the survey results show a reversal of the low interest in EHR adoption in previous years, and he credited leaders in the medical community and the federal government for the improved prospects for adoption and use of health information technology. 

"For years we have known that electronic health records would improve care for patients and bring about greater cost effectiveness in our health sector, yet adoption rates by health care providers remained low," Blumenthal said. "In 2009, Congress and the president authorized major new federal support for EHR adoption and use, and in combination with medical professional and hospital leadership. I believe we are seeing the tide turn toward widespread and accelerating adoption and use of health IT."

The ONC survey results are consistent with the latest HealthLeaders Media Insight Report, which shows that healthcare physician leaders and executives mostly support the national initiative to implement electronic medical records systems, and say it will improve efficiency and quality. However, the HealthLeaders report also finds that those same leaders are uneasy about the cost, value, and functionality of their own EMR programs.

The ONC data released Thursday comes from surveys commissioned by ONC and carried out by the American Hospital Association and the National Center for Health Statistics, an agency of HHS' Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The AHA survey found that 81% of hospitals plan to achieve meaningful use of EHRs and take advantage of incentive payments.  About two-thirds of hospitals (65%) responded that they will enroll during Stage 1 of the Incentive Programs, in 2011-2012.

The NCHS survey found that 41% of office-based physicians are planning to achieve meaningful use of certified EHR technology and take advantage of the incentive payments. Four-fifths of these, or 32.4% of all office-based physicians, said they will enroll during Stage 1 of the programs.  Only 14% of respondents said they were not planning to apply for meaningful use incentives.

The NCHS survey also showed that growing numbers of primary care physicians have already adopted a basic EHR, rising by 50% from 19.8% of primary care physicians in 2008 to 29.6% in 2010. Basic EHRs provide a beginning point for use in physician offices, but most physicians would need to further upgrade their EHR systems or their use of the systems in order to qualify for meaningful use incentive payments, ONC said.

The incentive payments were authorized in the Health Information Technology Economic and Clinical Health Act in 2009, and will be made through Medicare and Medicaid. High rates of adoption and meaningful use could result in as much as $27 billion in incentive payments over 10 years, ONC said.

Non-hospital-based physicians and other eligible professionals can obtain incentive payments of as much as $44,000 under Medicare or $63,750 under Medicaid. Under both Medicare and Medicaid, eligible hospitals may receive millions of dollars for implementing and meaningfully using certified EHR technology. 

Provider registration for the Medicare EHR Incentive Program and some Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs opened Jan. 3. Most states will allow provider registration to begin for their Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs in the spring and summer of 2010.

"We are pleased to see this evidence of an enthusiastic early response, and we believe participation will continue to grow, especially as the nation's physicians become more familiar with this one-time opportunity to improve care while helping to offset the costs of adopting EHR systems," said Donald Berwick, MD, administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

Blumenthal said the meaningful use process has contributed to the increased willingness of providers to adopt EHR systems, especially because it guides providers through staged objectives for the productive use of EHRs, and because providers can now be assured that Complete EHRs and EHR Modules certified under ONC criteria by ONC-authorized testing and certification bodies can be relied upon to support the meaningful use objectives. 

He also pointed to the technical support programs created under the HITECH Act and now operating under ONC, which offer support to providers as they switch from paper records to EHRs.  In particular, 62 Regional Extension Centersacross the country will offer customized, on-the-ground assistance, especially for smaller-practice primary care providers and for small hospitals and clinics.

"We know that adoption of EHRs and conversion to EHR-based care is expensive and challenging, especially for smaller providers," Blumenthal said. "With HITECH, we are able to provide unprecedented funding and technical support programs to help providers make the transition and to help our nation achieve the improvements in health care quality, safety and cost effectiveness EHRs will bring about."