Mr. Gurman, the first hand surgeon and second orthopedic surgeon to ever serve as AMA president, has a solo practice in Pennsylvania. He told MD Magazine that it’s cheaper for him to forgo the financial incentives of the meaningful use program than to adopt an EHR.
“I don’t have an EHR,” Dr. Gurman told MD Magazine. “I just take the penalties.”
MACRA’s payment adjustments are scheduled to begin in January, but Dr. Gurman said he is optimistic that CMS will provide support to individual and small practice owners like himself.
And CMS has already made moves to do so. HHS announced this week it will award $100 million over the next five years to organizations that provide support and training to Medicare physicians in group practices with 15 or fewer clinicians to comply with MACRA.
According to September 2015 data from the ONC, solo practitioners reported the lowest rates of EHR adoption among office-based physicians, with 64 percent adopting the technology.
More articles on EHRs:
The ‘digital dystopia’: 4 thoughts from AMA CEO Dr. James Madara
Empowering the clinician around the EHR
How opioid prescription laws are challenging EHR vendors
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