Health Care Reform Continues to Benefit Iowans by Supporting Transition to Electronic Health Records
Washington, D.C. - July 13, 2010 - Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) today applauded Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius on the announcement of final rules that pave the way for the expanded use of electronic health records (EHR) in America. In March of this year, Harkin joined 37 other Senators in commending a proposed rule to distribute Recovery Act funds for health information technology (HIT), and urged improvements to increase flexibility and encourage participation among providers. Today's announcement includes those recommendations, and completes the ground work for an incentive-based transition program."This news is nothing short of a breakthrough in strengthening health information technology in this country," said Harkin. "It draws on the best advancements across the full spectrum to improve Americans' health, increase safety and reduce health care costs -- all of which are critical steps to improve the quality and efficiency of patient care. I am encouraged that the Secretary worked with us to allow physicians and hospitals to qualify for incentives as they make incremental investments in adoption and use of this technology and that the rule allows physicians working in hospital outpatient settings to qualify for the incentives. I will continue to monitor the implementation of these incentives to ensure that providers have sufficient flexibility as they take steps to adopt this important technology."
Under the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act of 2009, eligible health care professionals and hospitals can qualify for Medicare and Medicaid incentive payments when they adopt certified EHR technology and use it to achieve specified objectives. One of the two regulations announced today defines the "meaningful use" objectives that providers must meet to qualify for the bonus payments, and the other regulation identifies the technical capabilities required for certified EHR technology.
As much as $27 billion may be expended in incentive payments over ten years. Eligible professionals may receive as much as $44,000 under Medicare and $63,750 under Medicaid, and hospitals may receive millions of dollars for implementation and meaningful use of certified EHRs under both Medicare and Medicaid.
Today's regulations contain two specific rules that will have a direct effect on Iowa providers. One defines the minimum requirements that providers must meet through their use of certified EHR technology in order to qualify for the payments. This rule provides more flexibility for providers in meeting these requirements, and allows physicians and hospitals to qualify for the incentives as they make incremental investments in adoption and use of HIT. The second rule allows physicians working in hospital outpatient settings to qualify for the HIT incentives.
A CMS/ONC fact sheet on the rules is available at http://www.cms.gov/
Technical fact sheets on CMS's final rule are available at http://www.cms.gov/
A technical fact sheet on ONC's standards and certification criteria final rule is available at http://healthit.hhs.gov/
