In its first search for programs developed to subsidize physician adoption of health IT over the past two years, the Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology (CCHIT®) found 90 initiatives in the public and private sectors. The 90 programs in the CCHIT Incentive Index™ catalog represent at least $700 million in potential funding for electronic health record (EHR) software and implementation costs.
Of those programs, 50 have been launched by hospital organizations in response to federal “safe harbor” regulations announced in 2006. Under those rules, hospitals can subsidize up to 85 percent of certain costs for physicians to acquire, implement, and maintain EHRs that are certified by CCHIT for their offices. Also, 40 incentive programs are being offered by government agencies, insurance plans, employer coalitions, and public-private partnerships, of which 20 explicitly call for CCHIT-certified technology.
The programs include the federal government’s biggest initiative to date, the $150 million Medicare demonstration project that will provide incentive payments to 1,200 physician practices for using certified EHRs to improve quality of patient care. The largest known regional commitment to accelerate adoption of certified interoperable EHRs is in New York, which is distributing $157 million already to regional networks and community alliances of physician practices representing more than 18,000 physicians. Read the press release.
