The Value-Based Purchasing Program from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will change the way physicians are compensated and place a much greater emphasis on quality instead of quantity. Experts say that the meaningful use of electronic health records could help providers meet many of the requirements of the new initiative.
CMS officials said that many aspects of the Value-Based Purchasing Program, which reimburses doctors based on their efforts to keep patients health and reduce costs, align with elements of the electronic health records incentive program, according to Government Health IT.
“We believe that electronic reporting of measure information is a necessary step towards a more integrated health care system and one we intend to encourage in future Hospital Value-Based Purchasing rulemaking," the officials said in a statement, according to the news source.
This could provide medical practices even more incentive to adopt electronic health records according to the agency's meaningful use rules. Physicians already stand to gain between $45,000 and $63,000, depending on whether they participate in the Medicare or Medicaid program.