IT (for free?) and the Healthcare Industry

On February 17th, 2009, President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (aka The Stimulus Package) into law. I have to admit, I have not read all 1400+ pages. And like many, I had mixed feeling when it was signed. I think it is still up for debate whether the package and plan has been successful… but that discussion is for another day.

What cannot be argued is that the The Stimulus Package includes landmark legislation designed to promote the use of advanced healthcare information technology by all healthcare providers. The Stimulus package provides over $20 billion to the health care industry. The largest allocation of funding — approximately $17 billion — is for incentive payments through the Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement systems to encourage providers and hospitals to implement electronic health record (EHR) technology systems.

An Electronic Health Record is a secured electronic file of patient history, medical transcription notes, billing information, and all other information necessary to have a complete patient profile. EHR systems have been proven to increase efficiency, reduce cost and increase revenue for the provider. And now with the passage of The Stimulus Package, reimbursement is available for some, if not all, of the expense.

There are two ways you can qualify for the incentive, under either Medicare or Medicaid. Physicians qualifying under the Medicare portion can receive up to $44,000 and those qualifying under the Medicaid incentive can qualify for up to $64,000. It is also important to note that there is a penalty for not implementing or using the new technology.

At Progressive, we welcome the opportunity to assist you in learning more about this technology. We are experienced working with the top EHR Systems on the market today. We have assisted in the implementation of these packages in both hospitals and individual practices in a variety of healthcare fields throughout the area. Maybe most importantly, we offer to our clients a trusted IT partner who can be objective in their opinion on the technical benefits of the various applications, because we are not affiliated with any one provider.

We invite you to call us at 682-4990 or Email Us for more information.

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