On Fri Feb 17, US Department of Health and Human Services' Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced the number of hospitals using health information technology (IT) has more than doubled in the last two years. She also announced new data showing nearly 2000 hospitals and more than 41,000 doctors have received $3.1 billion in incentive payments for ensuring meaningful use of health IT, particularly certified Electronic Health Records (EHR).
The announcement details information from a new survey conducted by the American Hospital Association and reported by the HHS Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT, which found that the percentage of US hospitals that had adopted EHRs has more than doubled from 16 to 35 percent between 2009 and 2011. Additionally, 85 percent of hospitals now report that by 2015 they intend to take advantage of the incentive payments made available through the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs. The announcement also highlights new data from CMS, detailing $3.12 billion in incentive payments the agency has made to physicians, hospitals, and other healthcare providers who have started to meaningfully use EHRs to improve the quality of patient care. In January alone, CMS provided $519 million to eligible providers. EHR incentive payments can total as much as $44,000 under the Medicare EHR Incentive Program and $63,750 under the Medicaid EHR Incentive Program. To meet the demand for workers with health IT experience and training, the Obama Administration has also launched four workforce training programs. Training is provided through 82 community colleges and nine universities nationwide. As of January 2012, more than 9000 community college students have been trained for health IT careers and another 8706 students have enrolled. As of February 2012, participating universities have enrolled more than 1200 students and graduated nearly 600 post-graduate and masters-level health IT professionals, with more than 1700 expected to graduate by the summer of 2013. For more information on how health IT can lead to safer, better, and more efficient care, visit http://www.HealthIT.gov. For more information about the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs, visit http://www.CMS.gov/EHRIncentivePrograms. For more information about the HHS Recovery Act health IT programs, visit http://www.HHS.gov/recovery/announcements/by_topic.html#hit<http://www.hhs.gov/recovery/announcements/by_topic.html#hit>. The full text of this excerpted HHS press release (issued Fri Feb 17) can be found at http://www.HHS.gov/news/press/2012pres/02/20120217a.html. ________________________________ It's Not too Late to Give and Get the Flu Vaccine. Take advantage of each office visit and protect your patients against the seasonal flu. Medicare will continue to pay for the seasonal flu vaccine and its administration for all Medicare beneficiaries through the entire flu season. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also recommends that patients, healthcare workers and caregivers be vaccinated against the seasonal flu. Protect your patients. Protect your family. Protect yourself. Get the Flu Vaccine-Not the Flu. Remember - The flu vaccine plus its administration are covered Part B benefits. CMS has posted the 2011-2012 seasonal flu vaccine payment limits at http://www.CMS.gov/McrPartBDrugAvgSalesPrice/10_VaccinesPricing.asp. Note that the flu vaccine is NOT a Part D-covered drug. For more information on coverage and billing of the flu vaccine and its administration, as well as related educational provider resources, visit http://www.CMS.gov/MLNProducts/35_PreventiveServices.asp and http://www.cms.gov/immunizations. ________________________________ Note: If you have problems accessing any hyperlink in this message, please copy and paste the URL into your Internet browser. If you know someone who would like to subscribe to a Medicare Fee-For-Service (FFS) provider listserv, go to (http://www.cms.gov/prospmedicarefeesvcpmtgen/downloads/Provider_Listservs.pdf). If you would like to unsubscribe from a specific provider listserv, please go to (https://list.nih.gov/cgi-bin/wa.exe?INDEX) to unsubscribe or to leave the appropriate listserv. Please DO NOT respond to this email. This email is a service of CMS and routed through an electronic mail server to communicate Medicare policy and operational changes and/or updates. Responses to this email are not routed to CMS personnel. Inquiries may be sent by going to (http://www.cms.gov/ContactCMS). Thank you.
