In recent weeks, several studies have been published that either questioned the benefits of electronic health records or concluded that the systems are not cost-effective enough to be practical for all providers.
David Blumenthal, the current national coordinator for health IT, heard these criticisms loud and clear, and quickly shot back with rebuttals intended to assure the medical community that electronic health records are well worth the cost and effort of implementation, according to Government Health IT.
He said that the difficulty of adopting the technology should not stop providers from moving to an electronic system, as the potential benefits are likely to outweigh the burden of the effort of the initial transition.
"I know that adopting electronic health records is not easy or problem-free or cost-free or atraumatic, because it can be all those things," he told the news source. "I understand that it is still a big risk."
However, there are many benefits to adoption. Chief among them are the financial incentives being offered by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The agency has more than $19 billion to distribute to providers that adopt electronic health records according to the meaningful use rules.