As the incentive programs for the meaningful use of electronic health records get going, interest in the benefits of these initiatives continues to grow. Providers across the country are saying that they expect to qualify for the government's incentive payments, which are beginning to come to providers in more states.
A recent survey of chief information officers at healthcare offices conducted by the College of Health Information Management Executives (CHIME) found that the vast majority believe their institution will qualify for the program during stage one of meaningful use. Furthermore, nearly one-third believe they will qualify by September 30, 2011, which marks the end of the first full fiscal year of the program.
The only bit of pessimism found in the results of the survey comes from the number of providers who expect to meet the meaningful use rules within the first six months of the program. The survey found that the number of CIOs aiming for this goal decreased since previous investigations.
CHIME officials said that their findings show that providers are still very interested in the program, though they are currently dealing with some of the difficulties of implementing electronic health records systems. However, it appears that most believe that the benefits of systems will outweigh these hang-ups.
"As more guidance becomes available and the industry works through the rules, what’s needed to get to MU becomes clearer," said Sharon Canner, senior director of advocacy at CHIME. "If the deployment of health IT and EhRs was easy, we would have implemented this technology long ago. CIOs are thoughtfully looking at their systems and internal goals of improving patient care, and they're determining how best to integrate clinical systems in a meaningful way."
A major component of the incentive program that these providers are chasing is the Medicaid incentive program. While the Medicare leg of the initiative is managed solely by the federal government, state authorities have been tasked with setting up their own Medicaid program. These officials are beginning to get programs up and running in a growing number of states.
The state authorities in Alabama and Mississippi recently went live with their programs, allowing doctors to register for benefits, bringing the total number of states with active Medicaid incentive programs to 13, iHealthBeat reports.
The news that more states are beginning to allow providers to start receiving benefits may help more providers get their electronic health records adoption efforts into high-gear.