13 Apr Blumenthal says HITECH faces challenges
BOSTON — David Blumenthal, MD, the newly appointed National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, sees “major hurdles” for the HITECH Act, according to a New England Journal of Medicine article.
The HITECH Act, the portion of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) that deals with healthcare information technology, is set to help doctors adopt HIT, specifically electronic health records.
The law uses a “carrot and stick approach” where eligible doctors will receive incentive payments for the first five years for demonstrating “a meaningful use” of EHR technology and demonstrated performance during the reporting period for each payment year. If an eligible professional does not demonstrate meaningful use by 2015, his/her reimbursement payments under Medicare will begin to be reduced. No incentive payment will be made after 2016.
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