CINCINNATI – The Department of Health and Human Services will launch a demonstration project to reward physicians who adopt electronic health records, HHS Secretary Michael Leavitt said last month.
Speaking at the Good Samaritan Hospital in Cincinnati, Leavitt said HHS will recruit 100 physician practices in each of 12 communities across the country to participate in a five-year demonstration project. The 1,200 physician practices service some 3.6 million patients collectively.
Leavitt did not indicate the dollar amounts of the incentives that will be offered to physicians, but said they will be rewarded within the first year that they adopt certified EHRs. Participating physicians will be rewarded for reporting performance in the second year of the demonstration and for improving quality of care, via a pay for performance approach, in the third year.
Leavitt said HHS hopes private payers will choose to follow the agency's lead to provide stipends to physicians who adopt electronic health records.
"Our vision is aimed at solving adoption, interoperability and a sustainable business model for small physician practices," he said.
The HHS estimates that 5 percent of physicians in small practices have EHRs, Leavitt said. "We have every reason to believe this will be a red-letter day," he said.
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Acting Administrator Kerry Weems said recruitment for the project will begin in about a year. She said CMS hopes the demonstration will hit "the sweet spot" of reaching small practices of three to five physicians, which have the lowest percentage of adoption of EHRs.
Broadening the use of electronic records is a means to the end of providing higher quality care, Weems said.
The initiative faces an uphill climb because physician adoption of electronic medical records with even basic functionality remains low.
In the results of a survey presented at the November meeting of the American Health Information Community in Chicago, only 29.2 percent of physician offices say they have any patient information on electronic systems.
Solo practitioners represent 34 percent of all practicing physicians, and yet 24 percent have partial EMRs, while 7 percent report having full EMRs. In dual practices, 28 percent have partial EMRs and 10 percent have full EMRs. In practices with three to five physicians, 30 percent have partial EMRs, and 13 percent have comprehensive EMRs, reported Jane E. Sisk, who shared results from a survey by the National Center for Health Statistics ofr the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.