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HHS
Announces 12 Demonstration Sites For Electronic Health Record Incentives
Click
here to download the electronic health records demonstration form
CHICAGO-Department
of Health and Human Services Secretary Michael O. Leavitt announced
June 10 the 12 sites that will participate in a Medicare demonstration
project offering incentives to physicians for using electronic health
records to improve patient care.
The
12 sites--Alabama, Delaware, Jacksonville, Fla., Georgia, Maine,
Louisiana, the Maryland/D.C. area, Oklahoma, Pittsburgh, South Dakota,
Virginia, and Madison, Wis.--will participate in the five-year national
CMS Electronic Health Record Demonstration Project that provides
incentive payments to physicians using certified electronic health
records to improve the quality of care of their patients.
The
12 communities were selected in a competitive process from a field
that included 30 applicants because they demonstrated that they
are already ahead of the curve when it comes to electronic health
records (EHRs), Leavitt said during a news conference.
"These
communities are not just 12 places that are going to be adopting
electronic health records over the next years,'' Leavitt said. "They
are leaders in a movement to transform into a health care system
that's driven by value.''
Five-year
Project
In year
one of the demonstration project, doctors who use EHRs will benefit
from financial incentives. The more effectively they use them, the
greater their financial reward will be.
In
year two, CMS will "up the ante,'' Leavitt said, as doctors
will benefit if they use EHR to measure how they are doing according
to various quality standards. The more effectively they measure
their progress and meeting those standards, the greater their rewards
will be, Leavitt noted.
In
years three through five, "payment will be based on actual
performance on the clinical quality measures, rather than just reporting,"
according to a statement from HHS. "An added payment will continue
to be offered each year based on EHR functionalities used by the
practice. Payments may total up to $15,000 per physician or $75,000
per practice during each of these three years. Total payments under
the demonstration may be up to $58,000 per physician or $290,000
per practice over five years."
Active
Collaboration Cited
The 12
selected communities demonstrated an active collaboration from stakeholders,
including physicians and providers, health plans, employers, government,
and consumers, Leavitt said. They also demonstrated existing or planned
private sector initiatives related to health information technology
and quality reporting, as well as adequate size to recruit a sufficient
number of primary care physician practices.
Finally,
those selected demonstrated close ties to the medical community
and an ability to work closely with CMS to recruit physician practices
to participate in the demonstration, he added.
"Collaboration
is a key element to implementing EHRs and in reaping its tremendous
benefits,'' Leavitt said. "Without EHRs, doctors have to request
that written records be sent their way. Then, they have to comb
through pages and often disjointed handwritten notes. With EHRs,
doctors will have immediate access to the patient's history. [They]
can see their treatments, their medications, their allergic reactions,
what has worked in the past and what hasn't.''
By
utilizing EHRs, prescriptions will be sent to pharmacies before
the patient leaves the doctor's office, Leavitt said. Records will
also be more portable and the cost and quality of care will be more
easily measured and compared, he said.
Community-Based
Collaboration
CMS acting
Administrator Kerry Weems said the unique character of this demonstration
project lies in the fact that most Medicare demonstration projects
go directly at the provider, while in this one, CMS instead recruited
communities.
"True
success in these communities will be defined by collaboration,''
Weems said. "That's not just physicians and hospitals, but
also the other insurers and major employers of the area. It's the
strength of those collaborations that made these 12 applications
successful.''
In
the long run, both patients and physicians will benefit from EHRs,
Leavitt added.
"In
the short-run, financial incentives help physicians cover initial
costs, and helps spur adoption of EHRs,'' Leavitt said. "This
is especially good for doctors in small practices. EHRs are not
an end in themselves, but they are a means to an end. So, incentives
are tied to meeting the end goal--the quality of care.''
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