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The eMatchPhysicians Blog

ARRA Legislation and EHR Technology – Part 1

Posted on: Friday, April 16, 2010

In order to modernize our health system, physicians have to adopt and USE technology. The HITECH Act, which involves the incorporation of electronic health records (EHR) is a major part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) legislation.

Billian’s HealthDATA and Porter Research conducted a 2 phased research program aimed at understanding providers’ perceptions of the HITECH Act. The first survey was conducted in March and April 2009, with a follow up survey in January and February 2010. IT-leaders, hospital executives, and department directors from 150 hospitals participated in this survey.

In 2009, 40% of respondents said they were knowledgeable about the details of the new legislation, and in 2010 those numbers jumped to 74%. This statistic is also backed by the fact that in 2009, most of the respondents had relied on mainstream media, whereas in 2010 70% took it upon themselves to research the Act online. The increase in the number of hospital executives who personally researched the new legislation reflects their concern over how the Act will affect their hospitals. In fact, about 50% of the respondents in 2010 who felt knowledgeable about the ARRA claimed to have actually read the document itself.

The respondents who were surveyed were given a basic definition of EHR and Meaningful Use (refer to full article for definition). 30% of the respondents had her systems in place that met the requirements of the HITECH Act for electronic health records, however only 23% of those respondents have physicians or providers that are using EHR consistent with the requirements of the Early Meaningful Use Summary.

The respondents were then questioned about their concerns with the HITECH Act. Concerns regarding funding decreased by 27% from 2009 to 2010. There was also a slight decrease in concerns about government administration of the program, however concerns shot up drastically in 2010 about the the timetable hospitals are being given and their ability to meet the requirements of the HITECH Act.

80% of hospital executives surveyed said that they were knowledgeable of the Meaningful Use document issued by the CMC, and 45% of those respondents agreed with the requirements that were proposed. The respondents’ biggest concerns in achieving meaningful use are the timeline that they are given as well as having the resources to accomplish meaningful use. Almost half of the respondents felt that they would not receive enough funding, as they expect the government to cover less than a quarter of the total cost. 76% say they will have to pursue additional funding. Smaller hospitals, however, are expected to receive more coverage estimated at half of their total costs.

Needless to say, hospitals of all sizes will be taking a hit financially in order comply with the ARRA.

Read the full article at
http://www.porterresearch.com/Resource_Center/Porter_White_Papers/The_Road_Traveled.html

Source: “The Road Traveled: Providers’ Perceptions of ARRA Legislation from Inception to Meaningful Use”

Tags: ARRA, EHR, HITECH Act, physicians, Technology

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