CMS HITECH (Health Information Technology for Economic & Clinical Health)
Investment ID: 009-000236620
Overview
Program Title
CMS HITECH (Health Information Technology for Economic & Clinical Health)
Description
The HITECH Act provides for the use of incentive payments to promote the meaningful use of electronic health records by eligible professionals (EPs) and hospitals.
The HITECH program began in 2010, and as of January 2018, there are 641,636 providers registered for the EHR Incentive program, 526,600 of which have received at least one incentive payment. The scope of the program necessitates interfaces with many different systems, including NPPES, PECOS, IDR, the Shared Systems (FISS & MCS), ONC, HPMS, PQRS and the States to name a few.
This investment includes ongoing maintenance of the National Level Repository (NLR). Eligible Professionals and Hospitals interface with the National Level Repository (NLR) to register for the EHR Incentive Program, attest to meaningful use and have payment information tracked across the Medicaid program. In 2019, HITECH decommissioned Medicare and only Medicaid remains until 2023.
Type of Program
Major IT Investments
Multi-Agency Category
Not Applicable
Associated Websites
https://ehrincentives.cms.gov/hitech/login.action, http://www.cms.gov/Regulations-and-Guidance/Legislation/EHRIncentivePrograms/index.html?redirect=/ehrincentiveprograms/
Investment Detail
Through the Medicaid EHR Incentive Program, eligible providers can earn incentives for the adoption and meaningful use of EHR technology. The EHR Incentive Program provides financial incentives, assisting Healthcare Provider's in procuring the necessary equipment, hiring the personnel to implement it and training staff on new procedures to transition to EHR. EHR Systems are credited with: less paperwork and fewer storage Issues, in the healthcare industry, administrative duties represent a significant amount of time and costs, increased Quality of Care, EHRs provide the ability to exchange complete health information about a patient in real time, increased efficiency and productivity, EHRs can be more efficient than paper records by allowing centralized chart management, and quicker access to patient information from anywhere with condition-specific queries and better Patient Care due to streamlined access to a patient's complete records means no more filling out the same paperwork at each doctor's or specialist's office. Every provider can see which diagnostic tests a patient has had, along with which treatments worked and which didn't. Patients are less susceptible to duplicative testing or imaging procedures, because the results and images are all in one place. Better coordination among providers leads to more accurate diagnoses, improved management of chronic conditions and better overall patient care, which should always be the central focus of healthcare provision.