Although hospitals and physician offices increasingly are using electronic health records, several barriers remain that hinder greater health IT progress, according to a report released Friday by the Bipartisan Policy Center, the AP/Boston Globe reports (Alonso-Zaldivar, AP/Boston Globe, 1/27).
The report was produced by the center's Task Force on Delivery System Reform and Health IT (Bipartisan Policy Center release, 1/27).
The task force includes hospital representatives, physicians, insurers, consumers and technology company officials (AP/Boston Globe, 1/27).
Former Sens. Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) and Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) are co-chairs of the task force (McKinney, Modern Healthcare, 1/27).
Health IT Progress
Under the 2009 economic stimulus package, health care providers who demonstrate meaningful use of certified EHR systems can qualify for Medicaid and Medicare incentive payments.
According to the report, in 2011:
- 32% of hospitals received payments for the meaningful use of EHRs; and
- 61% of hospitals notified the government that they intended to qualify for meaningful use payments.
The report also found that, in 2011:
- 5% of eligible physicians received payments last year for the meaningful use of EHRs;
- 33% of eligible physicians registered to receive the payments; and
- About 33% of physician offices had some kind of EHR system in place, up from about 25% in 2010.
Barriers to Health IT Use
However, the report pointed to myriad challenges to health IT implementation.
According to the report, such challenges include consumer concerns about accuracy, privacy and security.
The report estimated that only 7% to 11% of consumers currently have a personal health record.
In addition, the report noted that little progress has been achieved in facilitating health data exchange between health care providers who use different IT systems (AP/Boston Globe, 1/27).
The report also found that health care providers are devoting significant resources to comply with a number of federal and state IT-related programs (Modern Healthcare, 1/27).
Recommendations
The report urged the federal government to address privacy gaps, noting that federal privacy law governing hospitals, physicians, insurers and data transmission companies does not apply to companies that sell PHR products (AP/Boston Globe, 1/27).
In addition, the report recommended that the federal government and private payers agree to a uniform set of performance measures to allow programs that focus on a specific objective, such as diabetes care, to use the same metrics (Modern Healthcare, 1/27).