February 17th, 2009

Reports the Philadelphia Inquirer:

People who hoped, or worried, that President Obama might be the “Health Care President” thought again when the ailing economy altered his agenda.

But it turns out the $787 billion economic-stimulus program that Obama is expected to sign today is a health-care bill after all.

“This is probably the most momentous funding initiative that has hit the health-care industry since the passage of Medicare in 1965. And it will have a bigger, quicker impact,” says Charlie Jarvis, head lobbyist and client financier for NextGen Healthcare Information Systems Inc., a medical-records-system provider owned by California-based Quality Systems Inc. that employs 500 at its Horsham headquarters.

The bill has billions in subsidies, grants and loans to get doctors rushing to put patient information

online. There are threats of smaller Medicare and Medicaid payments as punishment for stragglers. This makes it easier for hospitals, insurers, patients, other doctors, and the federal government to monitor and challenge treatment.

Get more details at the Inquirer.