Family physicians could obtain federal financial incentives when they implement electronic health records, according to provisions of a bipartisan bill strongly supported by the Academy.
The Academy sent its endorsement of the bill -- the Health Information Technology Act, or Health-Tech Act -- in a June 9 letter to its co-sponsors, Sens. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., and Olympia Snowe, R-Maine. Scheduled to be introduced to the Senate on June 10, the legislation calls for grants of up to $15,000 to physicians; tax incentives; and restructured Medicare payments for physicians who purchase, implement or improve their electronic health record systems.
"The AAFP strongly supports this legislation," wrote AAFP Board Chair Michael Fleming, M.D., of Shreveport, La. "The legislation recognizes that the main obstacles to widespread adoption of electronic health record systems are the significant upfront costs and the lack of general interoperability of many fragmented electronic systems."
The Health-Tech Act would establish a five-year, $3.95 billion competitive grant program and tax incentives for physicians and other health care professionals to invest in new technology. At least 20 percent of the funds would be available for rural or health professional shortage areas.
If passed, the Health-Tech Act's grant program would authorize funding for:
- the purchase, lease and installment of computer software and hardware;
- upgrades to existing computer technology;
- the purchase of communications capabilities necessary for clinical data access, storage and exchange;
- education and training for staff on systems designed to improve patient safety; and
- accelerated depreciation of qualified health care information system expenditures from 2006 to 2010.
The legislation also would require HHS to adjust Medicare payments to health professionals who use electronic health records and would set a two-year deadline for HHS to develop and adopt national EHR technology standards.
"The standards should promote the interoperability of health care information across health care settings," says a fact sheet describing the legislation. The sheet also says the legislation would facilitate clinical decision-making support through use of health care technology.
AAFP's letter was scheduled to be included in the Congressional Record as part of the supporting documents submitted at the time of the bill's introduction.
