Fall 2011 issue of Horizons

Professional Services

The Future Direction of Healthcare Technology By Steve Moro, CPA

While the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) begins to pay out incentives to those healthcare providers that have deployed electronic health record (EHR) technology and complied with the applicable requirements, there are still many providers (primarily physicians) that have not implemented an EHR system. Healthcare providers cite various reasons for not deploying EHR systems, such as: the loss of productivity, cost of implementation, or other organizational barriers. Regardless of the reason, providers that do not implement an EHR system that is interoperable with other healthcare providers and

payors (i.e., Medicare, HMOs, etc.) will experience a negative financial impact in the future. For those providers that currently do not have an EHR system and treat Medicare and/or Medicaid patients, they are missing out on the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) EHR incentives payments that began in 2011. Over the incentive period, the aggregate incentive money could be as much as $44,000 per provider. However, after 2015, those providers who are not in compliance with the “meaningful use” standards related to EHR technology will see a reduction

Raise Your Expectations

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