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GAO-12-778R 1 (2012-07-26)

handle is hein.gao/gaobacgjf0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Accountabiliy - Integrity - Reliability United States Government Accountability Office Washington, DC 20548 July 26, 2012 Congressional Committees Subject: Electronic Health Records: Number and Characteristics of Providers Awarded Medicare Incentive Payments for 2011 Widespread use of health information technology, such as electronic health records (EHR), has the potential to improve the quality of care patients receive and reduce health care costs. However, studies have estimated that as of 2009, 78 percent of office-based physicians and 91 percent of hospitals had not adopted EHRs. 1 Among other things, the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, enacted as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act)2 provided funding for various activities intended to promote the adoption and meaningful use of certified EHR technology.3 The largest of these activities, in terms of potential federal expenditures, are the Medicare and Medicaid EHR programs.4 Starting in 2011, these programs have provided incentive payments for certain providers, including both hospitals and health care professionals such as physicians and dentists, that demonstrate meaningful use of certified EHR technology and meet other program requirements established by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Beginning in 2015, the Medicare EHR 'See C. J. Hsiao, E. Hing, T. C. Socey, and B. Cai, Electronic Medical Record/Electronic Health Record Systems of Office-Based Physicians: United States, 2009 and Preliminary 2010 State Estimates, National Center for Health Statistics Health E-stat (2010); and A. K. Jha, C. M. DesRoches, P. D. Kralovec, and M. S. Joshi, A Progress Report on Electronic Health Records In U.S. Hospitals, Health Affairs, no.10 (2010):1951-1957. 2The HITECH Act was enacted as title XIII of division A and title IV of division B of the Recovery Act. Pub. L. No. 111-5, div. A, tit. XIII, 123 Stat. 115,226-279 and div. B, tit. IV, 123 Stat. 115,467-496 (2009). 3Congress defined meaningful use in this context to reflect that the user of health information technology demonstrates to the satisfaction of the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that the technology is certified and being used in a meaningful manner, that the technology is connected in a manner that provides for the electronic exchange of health information to improve the quality of health care, and that such information is submitted in a form and manner specified by the Secretary. See Pub. L. No. 111-5, § 4101 (a) 123 Stat. 467-472. To be certified, EHR technology must meet certain criteria established by HHS's Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology that describe minimum related performance standards and implementation specifications. 4See Pub. L. No. 111-5, §§ 4101-4201, 123 Stat. 467-494. Medicare is a federal program financing health care for individuals aged 65 and older, certain disabled individuals, and individuals with end- stage renal disease. In 2010, Medicare covered 47 million beneficiaries. Medicaid is a federal-state program financing health care for certain low-income individuals. In fiscal year 2009, Medicaid covered over 65 million beneficiaries. GAO-12-778R Electronic Health Records Page 1

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