WASHINGTON -- The number of hospitals using health information technology has more than doubled in the past two years, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced.
From 2009 to 2011, the percentage of U.S. hospitals that had adopted electronic health records (EHRs) went from 16% to 35% according data from a new survey conducted by the American Hospital Association and announced by Sebelius during a Friday speech at a community college in Kansas City, Mo.
And 85% of the responding hospitals said they intend to take advantage of incentive payments made available through the Medicare and Medicaid EHR incentive programs.
The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, which was part of the 2009 economic stimulus package, authorized incentive payments through Medicare and Medicaid to clinicians and hospitals when they use EHRs in a meaningful way that significantly improves clinical care -- referred to as "meaningful use" regulations.
The program will make available incentive payments up to $44,000 per clinician over five years through Medicare and $63,750 per physician over five years through Medicaid.
So far, CMS has paid a little more than $3 billion in incentive payments to more than 2,000 hospitals and more than 41,000 physicians and other healthcare providers who have started to use EHRs in a "meaningful" way.
"Healthcare professionals and hospitals are taking advantage of this unprecedented opportunity to begin using smarter, new technology that improves care and creates the jobs we need for an economy built to last," Sebelius said.
The findings are similar to those in a recent CDC report that found the percentage of physicians who have adopted an electronic health record system in their practice has doubled over the past three years. In 2008, just 17% of office-based physicians reported using an EHR; by 2011, one in three were using at least a basic system.
The announcement comes a few days before the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) annual conference kicks off in Las Vegas. Meaningful use regulations are expected to be a major focus of the conference, which is expected to draw more than 31,000 attendees, many of whom are hospital and physician leaders.
MedPage Today will be in Las Vegas providing coverage of meaningful use adoption and other breaking healthcare IT news.