Health Affairs: Medicaid docs more enticed by EHR adoption incentives
Florida physicians who care for Medicaid participants said they are more likely to apply for incentive payments to adopt EHRs under the Health IT for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act of 2009, according to research published in the August issue of Health Affairs.
More than 60 percent of respondents are interested in applying for the incentives, Nir Menachemi, MD, associate professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and colleagues, said. Eighty-six percent of respondents who are already using an EHR said they would apply for the incentive funding.
The researchers said this high proportion of physician interest has the potential to reach the overall policy goals of the law. Those not applying for incentives noted some common barriers: “the costs involved” (69 percent); “need more information about incentive program” (42 percent); and "uncertainty about what system to purchase" (42 percent).
The study has implications for regional extension centers (RECs), which are designed to help physicians achieve the federal meaningful use criteria, part of the process for receiving the incentives. In particular, RECs should focus on providing physicians with information about costs of EHRs.
Many earlier studies have found that EHRs can improve the efficiency and quality of healthcare. However, current adoption rates are too low to realize the maximum benefit of an extensive, interoperable national health information infrastructure, researchers said. As a result, many of the benefits of electronic records are not available to the majority of patients in the U.S.
However, the success of EHR adoption and extent to which physicians take advantage of the funding is not yet known. It is also not known whether those who participate in the incentive program are more likely to be current EHR users or non-users who will initiate adoption and achieve meaningful use in the future, or some combination of the two.
Researchers suggested that knowing about the physician or practice characteristics of those applying for HITECH incentives can help policymakers steer limited resources toward encouraging maximum provider participation and program success.
The study used data from the Florida Medicaid agency, because Florida has a high number of licensed physicians (approximately 33,000), as well as large populations of Medicare (3.2 million) and Medicaid (2.9 million) beneficiaries. Previous research determined that Florida physicians who care for Medicaid patients lag in EHR adoption. Therefore, many Florida physicians may be eligible to participate in HITECH incentive programs—including many who have not yet adopted an EHR.
More than 60 percent of respondents are interested in applying for the incentives, Nir Menachemi, MD, associate professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and colleagues, said. Eighty-six percent of respondents who are already using an EHR said they would apply for the incentive funding.
The researchers said this high proportion of physician interest has the potential to reach the overall policy goals of the law. Those not applying for incentives noted some common barriers: “the costs involved” (69 percent); “need more information about incentive program” (42 percent); and "uncertainty about what system to purchase" (42 percent).
The study has implications for regional extension centers (RECs), which are designed to help physicians achieve the federal meaningful use criteria, part of the process for receiving the incentives. In particular, RECs should focus on providing physicians with information about costs of EHRs.
Many earlier studies have found that EHRs can improve the efficiency and quality of healthcare. However, current adoption rates are too low to realize the maximum benefit of an extensive, interoperable national health information infrastructure, researchers said. As a result, many of the benefits of electronic records are not available to the majority of patients in the U.S.
However, the success of EHR adoption and extent to which physicians take advantage of the funding is not yet known. It is also not known whether those who participate in the incentive program are more likely to be current EHR users or non-users who will initiate adoption and achieve meaningful use in the future, or some combination of the two.
Researchers suggested that knowing about the physician or practice characteristics of those applying for HITECH incentives can help policymakers steer limited resources toward encouraging maximum provider participation and program success.
The study used data from the Florida Medicaid agency, because Florida has a high number of licensed physicians (approximately 33,000), as well as large populations of Medicare (3.2 million) and Medicaid (2.9 million) beneficiaries. Previous research determined that Florida physicians who care for Medicaid patients lag in EHR adoption. Therefore, many Florida physicians may be eligible to participate in HITECH incentive programs—including many who have not yet adopted an EHR.