The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) has financial incentives for many industries including healthcare. Medical offices are interested in the incentives for Health Information technology (HIT) but may be confused if they are qualified. The program has three criteria for eligibility.
ARRA Eligibility
The practice must use a certified EMR (electronic medical records) technology that provides interoperability of data. The EMR system must allow electronic exchange of data with other EMR technologies so systems in doctor offices, hospitals, insurance companies and so on are all speaking the same language.
The certified EMR system must include quality measure reporting. These clinical quality measures must be in accordance with the Secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services. These objective measures ensure that the data is valid and error free.
Your practice must make meaningful use of a certified EMR (Electronic Medical Records) technology. The definition of "meaningful use" has not been specified yet but industry analysts have made some predictions of how it will be characterized.
What is Meaningful Use?
The vague term "meaningful use" has led to many discussions about what it means and how it should be measured. The purpose of the term is to keep ARRA funds from being squandered on limited or irrelevant projects. It is likely the term will be defined around the measure of how much a certified EMR adds to the quality of care a patient receives and the efficiency with which a medical practice operates.
For example an integrated EMR solution that encompasses all medical professionals in a community would ensure doctors know all of a patient's prescriptions and allergies so a conflicting or dangerous medication is not prescribed. It would allow full integration and coordination of care across all providers but will require a complex, fully featured, and certified EMR solution.
Does Your Practice Need It?
The biggest drawback most small practices see to a certified EMR solution is the cost. These applications are very powerful but also very expensive, and the features being paid for may be irrelevant to the one or two provider practice. It is akin to buying a million dollar Formula One race car for trips to the grocery store.
ARRA funds will offset the purchase of a certified EMR solution but there will be ongoing costs the practice will have to shoulder. If the practice can use the features of the software the expense will be worth it, but if not the money is wasted.
For this reason, many small practices turn to free EMR options. They get the benefits of electronic medical records but without the cost of a fully certified, ARRA-eligible product. While they miss out on the government payments, in the long run it is the cheaper option.
The right decision for your practice will depend on many factors including the size of the patient base and your current medical record system.
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