Adaptation Statistics opens your eyes......

ARRA or better known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 is intended to encourage the rapid adoptation of EMR ( Electronic Medical Records) by providing reimbersments to Hospitals as well as doctors who adopt certified EMR systems and can show that they are being used in a meaningful way. Penalties are also part of the ARRA for those who do not make the EMR transition. The goal is the year 2015. Using a certified EMR in a meaningful way is the key of obtaining the reimbersments......purposeful, value, and significant are all definitions pertaining to the word 'meaningful'. So yes, don't throw a computer in your office and say " we meet the qualifications! We are electronic!" Put some brain power into it and also consider quality of care!

Here are some statistics from the Kaiser State Health Facts that can put a perspective into how far we need to go to meet this goal. Many think we as America are on the cutting edge of technology...read and think again....this impacts you and touches all of us!

Physicians:

1. More than 792,000 non federal physicians do NOT have even a basic form of EMR.

2. 941,000 is the total number of Doctors that have no basic form of EMR plus those that have no EMR at all. Translation = a computer on your desk does not constitute an EMR. An office with no computer at all is just shameful.

3. To meet the 2015 goal: Health Care Information Technology will need install, train, and bring online 13,069 Doctor's a month from today until the deadline in the year 2015.

Hospitals:

1. There are 4,407 hospitals that are still in need of adopting an EMR system. That will be 61 hospitals a month for installing, training, and onlining for my world of HIT.

Now that is a lot of hospitals.

Realize we have a long way to go here folks. I look forward to the outcomes and feel that my job will be busy busy busy.

~E