As part of the Obama administration's economic recovery package, $19B will be spent to help accelerate the implementation electronic medical records in physician offices. The goal is to curb costs and provide better care through the efficiency of electronic medical records.
A recent New York Times article cites a study in the New England Journal of Medicine indicating that currently only 17% of all medical practices use computerized medical records (this figure is probably significantly higher in the Boston area). In larger practices, use of electronic medical records is widespread, but over 75% of physicians practice in small offices with 10 or fewer providers. The new funds are good news for the smaller practices who may be eligible for up to $44,000 in funding to help implement electronic records and re-coup their earlier investment. Starting a little over a year from now, practices that are "meaningful users" of certified electronic medical records will be eligible for the funding.
For more detail on the funding schedule, refer to the McKesson EMR Blog - slide 5 outlines all the incentives (which favor early adopters).
The plan also comes with a penalty: Physicians who don't adopt electronic medical records by 2015 will see Medicare payments reduced by up to 5%.
Stay tuned for more information. For general information regarding the economic recovery program, go to www.recovery.gov.
Lunch & Learn Phone Seminar: "Ten Costly Technology Mistakes and How to Avoid Them"
Join us March 26 at 12:30pm for an informative phone seminar. We'll cover some of the most common mistakes we see out in the field and how to avoid them. Send us an email if you'd like to join us, and we'll send you the dial-in details and links. There is no cost for the event.
Tip: Getting eMails "un-stuck" in the Outlook Outbox
Have you ever had an email that just won't leave your computer? Normally, no email should be in your Outbox unless you are working off line, but every once in a while, a message may get "stuck" in your Outbox. It will seem that no matter what you do, the system just stays stuck. Often, a quick fix is to move the message to your "Drafts" folder, and then re-send it. Try this next time you get an email stuck.
Was this newsletter helpful to you? If so, forward it to a friend or colleague! Do you have suggestions for future newsletter topics or a particular question you'd like to see answered? Send us an email!. We want to write about what's important to you! Click here to read past issues.
Happy St. Patrick's Day!
Sincerely,
Team Ekaru
Introductory Technology Assessment Over 400 local small businesses have chosen Ekaru to manage their computers and networks. We offer a free, no-obligation initial consultation to get started. We'll visit your office, review your network, and make recommendations. Call us at 978-692-4200 or email us to schedule a no-obligation assessment. If you know someone who could benefit from this offer, simply forward this email to them. Thank You!
©2009 Ekaru, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
