Eighty-one percent of hospitals and 41 percent of practices plan to apply for federal incentive payments for adopting electronic health records technology, according to a survey by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology.
The findings, released as registration opened for the first round of incentive payments, further showed that 65 percent of hospitals and 32.4 percent of practices plan to enroll for Stage 1 incentive payments in 2011-2012.
A new AHA survey, however, suggests hospitals have a very long way to go to qualify for the payments. The survey, conducted this week, shows fewer than 2 percent of hospitals could actually meet the EHR certification and meaningful use requirements at this time.
AHA Executive Vice President Rick Pollack said the AHA findings "reflect the practical challenges hospitals face in revamping their EHR systems to be certified and meet the high bar set for meaningful use under a very challenging time frame."
Eligible hospitals could receive millions of dollars for implementing and meaningfully using certified EHR technology, and practices are eligible for as much as $44,000 per physician under Medicare or $63,750 under Medicaid.
To help organizations install EHR and comply with meaningful use standards, the ONC said 62 regional extension centers across the nation offer "customized, on-the-ground assistance, especially for smaller-practice primary care providers and for small hospitals and clinics."
Read the release by the ONC on meaningful use.
Read more coverage of meaningful use:
- Hospital IT Officials Urge Simplification of Meaningful Use Requirements
- Dr. David Blumenthal: Imaging Could Be Part of Meaningful Use
- National Quality Forum Publishes Two Reports on Health IT Meaningful Use
The findings, released as registration opened for the first round of incentive payments, further showed that 65 percent of hospitals and 32.4 percent of practices plan to enroll for Stage 1 incentive payments in 2011-2012.
A new AHA survey, however, suggests hospitals have a very long way to go to qualify for the payments. The survey, conducted this week, shows fewer than 2 percent of hospitals could actually meet the EHR certification and meaningful use requirements at this time.
AHA Executive Vice President Rick Pollack said the AHA findings "reflect the practical challenges hospitals face in revamping their EHR systems to be certified and meet the high bar set for meaningful use under a very challenging time frame."
Eligible hospitals could receive millions of dollars for implementing and meaningfully using certified EHR technology, and practices are eligible for as much as $44,000 per physician under Medicare or $63,750 under Medicaid.
To help organizations install EHR and comply with meaningful use standards, the ONC said 62 regional extension centers across the nation offer "customized, on-the-ground assistance, especially for smaller-practice primary care providers and for small hospitals and clinics."
Read the release by the ONC on meaningful use.
Read more coverage of meaningful use:
- Hospital IT Officials Urge Simplification of Meaningful Use Requirements
- Dr. David Blumenthal: Imaging Could Be Part of Meaningful Use
- National Quality Forum Publishes Two Reports on Health IT Meaningful Use