Questions Raised About Stimulus Law Benefits for Health IT Vendors

Although the federal economic stimulus package allocates billions of dollars to support health IT implementation, it remains to be seen whether the funding will improve health care quality or simply boost sales for health IT vendors, the Dallas Morning News reports.

Under the stimulus law, hospitals and physicians who demonstrate “meaningful use” of electronic health records can qualify for federal incentive payments.

The Obama administration contends that EHRs will allow physicians to better coordinate patient care, reduce medical errors and avoid duplicate testing. Medical errors alone cost the U.S. about $37.6 billion annually, according to the Institute of Medicine.

However, some advocates are concerned that health care providers will be unable to achieve the administration’s goals if meaningful use criteria tie stimulus funding to simply purchasing software.

They caution that such action could benefit health IT software companies at the expense of achieving interoperability and improved patient outcomes.

Conflict of Interest?

The federal stimulus package requires health care providers to purchase certified EHR systems to qualify for incentive payments.

In the past, certification responsibilities fell to the Certification Commission for Healthcare IT, which was founded by the trade group Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society.

Some critics argue that CCHIT is too closely linked with the health IT industry to be designated as the sole certifying body for EHRs.

However, leaders of the commission say CCHIT maintains its independence from health IT firms.

Although commission officials acknowledged that certification thus far has failed to promote EHR interoperability, they said the group is working to support system compatibility. In addition, CCHIT leaders say the commission is beginning to focus on alternative health IT systems and not just those developed by large software vendors (Michaels/Roberson, Dallas Morning News, 7/14).

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http://www.ihealthbeat.org/Articles/2009/7/15/
Questions-Raised-About-Stimulus-Law-Benefits-for-Health-IT-Vendors.aspx