WASHINGTON – The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently announced it has paid out more than $75 million for the meaningful use of electronic health records under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).

 

Is this really spurring adoption?

 

Some, like HIT Policy Committee Member Neil Calman, argue that the market is driving adoption all by itself, without help from federal incentives. 

 

“No matter what we do, ten years from now, the market will evolve to using EHRs,” he told the HIT Policy Committee in June. “It’s the way patient expectations are heading. This is moving really, really quickly.”

Recent reports show some doctors have never touched a paper record. Graduating physicians are unlikely to embrace paper records in their work environment, while the rest of their personal world is run on electronic transmissions of information.

 

Findings from a survey conducted by Sage Healthcare Insights found that 42 percent of physicians are using EHRs. One in three of them are using one during the patient’s visit.

 

The Sage survey, which polled more than 7,000 doctors and 18,000 healthcare consumers, found that 62 percent of physicians and 81 percent of patients overall have a positive perception of documenting patient care electronically. Forty-five percent of patients had a “very positive” perception of their physician or clinician documenting their care with a computer or other electronic device.

 

Marc Probst, CIO at Intermountain Healthcare, is speculative about the rate of advancement. Most physicians who have achieved meaningful use have been at it a long time already, he told his committee colleagues in June. The rest are far behind and are going to need more time.

 

But Ferdinand Velasco, MD, chief medical information officer for Arlington-based Texas Health Resources, begs to differ. Eleven of the system’s hospitals achieved meaningful use Stage 1 in just two year’s time, he said. In May, Texas Health Resources earned $19.5 million in ARRA incentives.