3 reasons why hospitals should adopt EHRs

Hospitals and physician clinics continue to adopt electronic health records (EHRs) at a growing rate. An American Hospital Association (AHA) study found that 81% of hospitals plan to implement EHRs to achieve meaningful use so that they may become eligible for incentive payments. Those healthcare professionals who do decide to implement a certified EHR system in the near future will benefit themselves by increasing office efficiency, acquiring government incentives and avoiding penalties for not complying.

1) Increasing Efficiency

The prime reasons for adopting EHRs are for improved quality of care and an advanced level of efficiency. So it should not be a surprise that physicians found that to be true. Practice Fusion interviewed 100 primary care providers and found that 59% cited the use of new technology as a way of making things easier for their practice. Additionally the survey found 11% percent of doctors saying improvements in healthcare technology impacted their practice positively, and 7% said electronic health records were a positive trend.

2) Government Incentives

Next to increasing efficiency and improving patient care, eligible professionals may receive incentive payments for implementing, adopting and demonstrating meaningful use of their electronic health records. Those eligible may receive as much as $44,000 over 5 years under the Medicare EHR Incentive Program and up to $63,750 over six years under the Medicaid EHR Incentive Program. In order to take advantage of the incentive payments 41% of office-based physicians are currently planning to attain meaningful use of certified EHR technology according to a National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS).

The University of Kentucky Healthcare and Central Baptist Hospital in Lexington are leading the way in this endeavor. They are the country’s first hospitals to receive incentive bonus checks under the 2009 stimulus law. The University of Kentucky received $2.8 million, and Central Baptist received $1.3 million. Kentucky should be receiving over $100 million in incentive payments for hospitals over the next four years to ensure electronic health record systems are implemented and maintained in the healthcare community.

3) Avoid Penalties

Healthcare professionals who do not adopt an EHR system by 2015 will receive a 1% reduction in Medicare payments and the penalties will grow to 3% over the next three years according to the Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons. In order to receive payment for the Medicaid Incentive Program meaningful use must be met by 2016, however there is no Medicaid reimbursement penalty for not adopting an EHR after 2016. Medicare incentive payments are greatest in 2011 and continue decreasing for the next five years. This means early adopters will have the greatest incentive advantage compared to hospitals and physicians which adopt in a few years.

What will the future hold for Electronic Health Record adoption?

Source: healthcarefinancenews