CONNECTING FOR HEALTH REPORT ANALYZES BUSINESS CASE FOR ADOPTION OF HEALTH IT SYSTEMS

Connecting for Health … A Public-Private Collaborative today released Financial, Legal and Organizational Approaches to Achieving Electronic Connectivity in Healthcare, a report which proposes a level of financial incentives necessary to significantly increase the adoption of electronic health records (EHR) by doctors. The report, undertaken by Connecting for Health's Working Group on Financial, Organization and Legal Sustainability of Health Information Exchange, proposes incentives at a rough level of $3-$6 per patient visit or $0.50 -$1.00 per patient per month. The report notes that small and medium sized practices, while likely to benefit more than larger ones from interoperability, will require greater attention and assistance due to their lack of resources, and suggests that financial and other types of support should be provided to local and regional electronic health record efforts and information sharing collaboratives.