Five national hospital groups have sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services expressing their concerns about the department's expected definitions of a "hospital" and a "hospital-based physician" under the federal stimulus package.
The definitions will help determine eligibility for Medicare and Medicaid incentive payments for the "meaningful use" of electronic health records. Earlier this month, a group of 43 hospitals and health systems also sent federal officials a letter urging them to redefine certain terms to maximize the number of medical providers that will be eligible for health IT incentive payments under the federal economic stimulus package.
