HHS announces electronic health record incentive demonstration

Through a new initiative starting in fall 2008, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will reward physicians in small- and medium-sized primary care practices for using electronic health records to improve patient care. The five-year demonstration project will provide Medicare incentive payments to up to 1,200 physician practices across the country to encourage widespread implementation and adoption of EHRs and other health information technology. HHS recognizes the importance of HIT in improving patient care, transforming the way medicine is practiced and delivered, and producing significant savings to the Medicare system, according to an HHS release.

Participating physician practices will use their EHRs to perform tasks such as clinical documentation, ordering of lab tests, recording lab tests and ordering prescriptions. They will be required to have an EHR certified by the Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology by the end of the second year, and show increased performance with the EHR in years three through five.

For more information on the project’s timeline, how to get involved and to access contact information and an application, go to the demonstration release on the CMS Web site.