Study says 45,000 Medicaid physicians are eligible for HIT funds
Study says 45,000 Medicaid physicians are eligible for HIT funds
About 45,000 office-based physicians are eligible for up to $63,750 over six years to improve and maintain their health information technology (HIT) systems, as long as they see at least 30% Medicaid beneficiaries, or 20% for pediatricians, and demonstrate "meaningful use" of HIT, according to a new analysis by researchers at The George Washington University, funded through the Geiger Gibson/RCHN Community Health Foundation Research Collaborative.
The new report, "Boosting Health Information Technology in Medicaid: The Potential Effect of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)" examines Medicaid HIT adoption incentives in the 2009 law.
This study is the first to explore the potential impact of the Medicaid provisions on physicians' access to incentive funding. According to Leighton Ku, PhD, MPH, one of the report's authors and a professor in the department of health policy at The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services in Washington, DC, state Medicaid directors need to be aware of these provisions and have to agree to provide the funding incentives to physicians under their state programs.
"The federal rules let states provide this incentive funding and provide full federal funding for these incentives," says Dr. Ku. "States are not required to cooperate, but I'd expect that all states, or almost all, would agree."
States will need to distribute guidance information to providers in their states, receive and process applications, and provide funding, although the federal government would reimburse states. A critical requirement is that states assure that the physicians are "meaningful users" of the HIT.
"[The Department of Health and Human Services] has not yet issued rules on what 'meaningful use,' constitutes, but states would be obliged to fit in that framework," says Dr. Ku. Other funds in ARRA may be provided to help states develop HIT infrastructure, such as setting up regional health information organizations or networks.
"These do not need to be done by the Medicaid agencies, but I'd think that Medicaid agencies would want to be intimately involved in these efforts in their states," says Dr. Ku. "This offers a huge opportunity for Medicaid directors to become focal points and agents for promoting HIT in their states."
The Medicaid provisions in ARRA are critical, says Dr. Ku, because they will help promote HIT among physicians, hospitals, and other providers that provide care for the poorest, most vulnerable patients. For certain types of providers, such as pediatricians, community health centers and safety net and children's hospitals, this provides federal funding to secure and operate their electronic health record systems.
The biggest barrier to HIT that physicians typically cite is the cost of acquiring a system and training staff to use it. "This will help eliminate those barriers, but physicians' offices will still need to provide the time to learn, understand, and use the new systems," says Dr. Ku. If a provider has already purchased a system, the incentives can be used for operational costs or upgrading.
"There are parallel provisions for funding health care providers who care for Medicare patients, but they are somewhat less generous than the Medicaid provisions," notes Dr. Ku. "So, we'd expect that those eligible for both will select Medicaid funding."
Contact Dr. Ku at (202) 994-4143 or [email protected].
About 45,000 office-based physicians are eligible for up to $63,750 over six years to improve and maintain their health information technology (HIT) systems, as long as they see at least 30% Medicaid beneficiaries, or 20% for pediatricians, and demonstrate "meaningful use" of HIT, according to a new analysis by researchers at The George Washington University, funded through the Geiger Gibson/RCHN Community Health Foundation Research Collaborative.Subscribe Now for Access
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