Report: Small Practices Should Consider Long-Term EHR Strategies

Small physician practices should not let the meaningful use program dictate  their long-term strategy for the adoption of electronic health record systems, according to a report by IDC Health Insights, Healthcare IT News reports.

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

Report Details

In the report — titled, “IDC MarketScape: U.S. Ambulatory EMR/EHR for  Small Practices 2012 Vendor Assessment” — IDC said it expects the meaningful  use program to fuel an increase in EHR adoption over the next several years. The  report also predicted that the U.S. health care industry will experience:

• Improvements of care resulting from increased use of EHR systems;
• Greater adoption of mobile technologies in ambulatory practices; and
• A consolidation of EHR vendors.

The report also includes an evaluation of 11 EHR products from nine vendors  that are designed to help small physician practices qualify for meaningful use  incentive payments.

Implications

Judy Hanover — IDC Health Insights research director — said EHRs offer “an  unprecedented opportunity for providers in small practices to garner federal  incentives for demonstrating meaningful use” (Miliard, Healthcare IT  News, 5/30).

However, she added, “If providers allow the constraints of meaningful use to  dictate their technology choices and limit the goals for implementation, they  may only see the short-term incentives and not the long-term strategic advantage  that EHR [systems] can bring to their practices and may fail to compete under  health care reform” (Goedert, Health Data Management, 5/30).

Source: iHealthBeat

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