Health Affairs Web Firsts: Two Studies Find Mixed Results On EHR Adoption

TweetSince the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act was enacted in 2009, Health Affairs has published many articles about the promise of health information technology and the challenges of promoting broad adoption and “meaningful use.” Last week, on August 7, the journal released two new Web First studies, “More Than Half Of US Hospitals Have At Least A Basic EHR, But Stage 2 Criteria Remain Challenging For Most” and “Despite Substantial Progress In EHR Adoption, Health Information Exchange And Patient Engagement Remain Low In Office Settings.” These studies focus on the latest trends in health information technology adoption among U.S. physicians and hospitals. Both studies, which will also appear in the September issue of Health Affairs, show that while basic electronic health record (EHR) adoption plans have moved forward, more significant implementation remains a daunting challenge for many providers and institutions. Hospitals’ Use Of Basic EHRs Increases, But ‘Meaningful Use’ Challenges Remain This year marks an important milestone in the effort of hospitals to demonstrate Stage 2 “meaningful use” of electronic health records (EHRs). Beginning in fiscal year 2015, institutions that bill the Medicare program and fail to meet that standard by the end of the current fiscal year will be subject to a penalty. Stage 2 criteria focus on areas such as patients’ ability to view online, download, ...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - Category: Health Management Authors: Tags: All Categories Health IT Hospitals Medicare Payment Physicians Policy Technology Source Type: blogs