EMR and the Stimulus Package

[Noelle]

EMR and the Stimulus Package

Hey All,

For years the medical community has been resistant to moving to digital media. Radiologist were the first group to move over to digital media about 10 years ago, dentist were the next to follow, but the general medical community has yet to make this transition to a large extent. Now with the start of the new Obama Administration comes the new push towards getting all physicians and hospitals on Electronic Medical Records (EMR) systems by 2014. The Obama Administration argues that by digitizing medical records and other medical information it will save the healthcare system billions of dollars as well as decrease medical errors.

Regardless if you agree with the administration or not, it may be in your best interest to take notice of the major strides that have been put in place to aid doctors in this transition. In fact, in the new stimulus passed last month, physicians can realize a $44,000 to $64,000 bonus from the federal government over the next 5 years for instituting an EMR system. What does this mean? Essentially, the earlier your practice institutes an EMR system the more of a bonus you will get – so if you institute the system in 2009 you will receive the bonus over 5 years until 2014 to a maximum amount of $44,000 to $64,000. The same is true for Hospitals, but they will max out at $11 million over this same time frame.

However, it is important to not only look at the bonuses that are proposed to be paid, but to also note that there is a clause which institutes a monetary fine for physicians and hospitals that do no t institute EMR systems by 2014. This could invariable lead to a yearly decrease in reimbursements that could be cumulative over time until the transition has finally taken place.

With all this said, I still feel that it is important the doctors learn how to document efficiently before they move onto instituting an EMR system. Please join me for the webinar: Electronic Medical Records - Benefits and Pitfalls: http://www.medicalcodingshop.biz/electr ... falls.html


Until next time……

PS. My next series will be on documentation and the medical record …..lets get ready for this new world, by starting off on the right foot.