Last week, the American Medical Association and 103 other medical societies sent a letter urging HHS to revise a Medicare policy that would penalize physicians for not electronically prescribing medications, Healthcare IT News reports.
Under the policy, physicians who do not e-prescribe in the first six months of 2011 would face penalties starting in 2012.
AMA said the penalties could negatively affect efforts to promote widespread health IT adoption. The group also said the policy would create unnecessary administrative and financial burdens for physician practices.
In addition, AMA said HHS should take action to align the Medicare e-prescribing program with the meaningful use incentive program for electronic health record adoption. Under the 2009 federal economic stimulus package, health care providers who demonstrate meaningful use of certified EHRs can qualify for incentive payments through Medicare and Medicaid.
AMA said a failure to connect the e-prescribing and EHR incentive programs could delay health care providers' efforts to adopt comprehensive EHRs (Merrill, Healthcare IT News, 12/13).