Study Finds Discrepancy Between Plans, Ability To Meet Meaningful Use

Although many physicians said they intended to apply for meaningful use  incentive payments, significantly fewer physicians actually were prepared to  meet the requirements of the program, according to a study published in the journal Health  Affairs, Healthcare IT News reports.

Under the 2009 federal economic stimulus package, health care providers who  demonstrate meaningful use of certified electronic health record  systems can qualify for Medicaid and Medicare incentive payments.

Chun-Ju Hsiao — a health services researcher at CDC’s National Center for  Health Statistics — led the study, which was based on a 2011 survey of 3,996  doctors (Manos, Healthcare IT News, 4/25).

Study Findings

The study found that:

• 91% of surveyed U.S. physicians were eligible for participation in the  meaningful use program because they received Medicare revenue or had the  required Medicaid volume;
• 51% said they intended to apply for meaningful use incentive payments; and
• 11% reported having an EHR system with at least 10 of the 15 capabilities  required for the Stage 1 core meaningful use objectives (Fleming, “Health Affairs Blog,” Health Affairs,  4/24).

The study notes that CMS previously estimated that 10% to 36% of  Medicare-eligible professionals and 15% to 47% of Medicaid-eligible  professionals would demonstrate meaningful use in 2011 (Healthcare IT  News, 4/25).

Among health care providers intending to apply for incentive payments, the  study found that practices with 11 or more physicians were 14.3 percentage  points more likely to attest to Stage 1 of the meaningful use program than  practices with one or two physicians.

Implications

The study authors wrote, “The low level of current readiness illustrates the  challenges in meeting the federal schedule for [meaningful use] incentives”  (“Health Affairs Blog,” Health Affairs, 4/24).

They added that the study findings could help guide the work of regional  extension centers, which were created to help health care providers adopt health  IT (Healthcare IT News, 4/25).

Source: iHealthBeat

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