When the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services announced its final rules and regulations for meaningful use of electronic health records in July, several health insurers launched programs to encourage EHR adoption among physicians. These programs use financial and other incentives to reward care providers and organizations that embrace federal mandates to modernize America's healthcare system. WellPoint is implementing a new financing program that supports health information technology for rural, critical access hospitals. This program, which will start in California and Georgia in 2011, allows qualifying hospitals to borrow short-term funding so they can implement services that satisfy the meaningful use criteria.
