Many physician group practices are likely to delay electronic health record adoption because of logistical and financial concerns, experts said this week at the Medical Group Management Association's annual convention, Healthcare IT News reports.
MGMA represents 22,500 medical group administrators and managers from across the country.
Robert Tennant, senior policy adviser for MGMA, said most of the physician practices MGMA represents will not qualify by 2011 for incentive payments under the federal economic stimulus package.
Under the stimulus package, health care providers who demonstrate "meaningful use" of EHRs will qualify for incentive payments through Medicare and Medicaid. However, the federal government has yet to issue a final definition for meaningful use.
William Jessee, CEO of MGMA, said many physician practices experienced declining revenue in 2008. He noted that nearly 37% of MGMA members have said they are postponing capital expenditures, which could include EHR adoption (Healthcare IT News, 10/13).
Moreover, many physician groups are concerned that the federal government will reduce Medicare payment rates this year under its sustainable growth rate formula, Jessee said.
He added that uncertainty about the rate reductions is leading many medical groups to delay EHR implementation (Monegain, Healthcare IT News, 10/13).
Health Data Transactions
In related news, MGMA recently analyzed the health data transaction provisions of the health care reform bills currently under debate in Congress. MGMA's analysis found that:
- All five reform bills call for patients to have machine-readable identification cards that include health plan data;
- The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee bill and the House bills call for the machine-readable cards to support real-time transactions such as claims submission and eligibility verification; and
- The House bills call for the government to establish claims status transaction standards (Goedert, Health Data Management, 10/13).