March 11th, 2009

Reports Kaiser Network News:

Health information technology funding included in the recently enacted federal stimulus package might not be enough to incentivize some physicians to make the initial installation investment, according to a study released on Monday by Avalere Health, the AP/San Francisco Chronicle reports. The stimulus package includes $19 billion for health IT, including $17 billion for incentives and penalties to encourage physicians and hospitals to adopt electronic health records between 2011 and 2015.  The money for health IT is meant to reimburse physicians and hospitals who adopt electronic systems and who demonstrate “meaningful use” — meaning that they use the systems to communicate to other providers in addition to entering patient health data.

 Using government cost estimates, the Avalere study found that it would cost about $124,000 for a single physician or small practice to upgrade to EHRs between 2011 and 2015, but incentives would total only $44,000. In one scenario, Avalere found that in 2015 — when the government would start imposing penalties on physicians not using EHRs — that the penalties would amount to $5,100 annually — far less than the cost of installing and maintaining the cost of an electronic system.

Jenny Backus, an HHS spokesperson, said, “The investments are designed to help make new systems more affordable for doctors and were never intended to wholly subsidize the adoption of this technology,” adding, “As the market for health IT expands, the costs for these systems will come down.”

Find out more at Kaiser Network News.

Also on the topic of Healthcare IT, read about Wal-Marts’ marketing plans for such a system from the New York Times:

Wal-Mart Stores is striding into the market for electronic health records, seeking to bring the technology into the mainstream for physicians in small offices, where most of America’s doctors practice medicine.

…

The company plans to team its Sam’s Club division with Dell for computers and eClinicalWorks, a fast-growing private company, for software. Wal-Mart says its package deal of hardware, software, installation, maintenance and training will make the technology more accessible and affordable, undercutting rival health information technology suppliers by as much as half.

…

The Sam’s Club offering, to be made available this spring, will be under $25,000 for the first physician in a practice, and about $10,000 for each additional doctor. After the installation and training, continuing annual costs for maintenance and support will be $4,000 to $6,500 a year, the company estimates.

Read more at the NYT online.