Area hospitals ahead of federal electronic health records push

Federal funds from the stimulus bill will not alter efforts by Fort Smith’s two largest hospitals to implement a comprehensive electronic medical records system.

The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act was included in the $787 billion federal stimulus bill and is “intended to promote the widespread adoption of health information technology to support the electronic sharing of clinical data among hospitals, physicians, and other health care stakeholders,” according to a summary from Congressional Research Services.

HITECH updates a 2004 order from President George W. Bush to implement a nationwide electronic health record system. The new law provides grants and financial incentives for health care systems to implement or update electronic systems.

“Sparks has been working towards an EMR (Electronic Medical Record) for some time and continues to move forward on that front,” Frederick Woodrell, CEO of Sparks Regional Medical Center, noted in an e-mail. “Certainly if there are monies available as incentive to reach a fully integrated EMR then Sparks would be interested, but the organization will continue towards the EMR goal regardless of federal/state dollars because it’s the right thing to do for the community and our patients.”

Likewise, the St. Louis-based Sisters of Mercy is pushing ahead with its systemwide implementation of an electronic health records system. Sisters of Mercy is the parent company of St. Edward Mercy Medical Center in Fort Smith.

“St. Edward Mercy is aware of the HITECH Act in the stimulus bill, and we are in the process of reviewing the economic impact it will have for us,” noted a statement from Jill McMormick, director of marketing at St. Edward. “The Sisters of Mercy Health System is already implementing an EHR system called Epic with St. Edward Mercy implementing Epic in the fall of 2010. Any funding received through this Act will go to offset the cost of the Epic implementation.”

The new law also includes mandates for hospitals or clinics interested in receiving Medicare reimbursements.

“Beginning in 2011, the legislation authorizes Medicare incentive payments to encourage doctors and hospitals to adopt and use certified EHRs. Those incentive payments are phased out over time and replaced by financial penalties for physicians and hospitals that are not using certified EHRs,” noted the CRS summary.

Provisions of the new law also call for privacy and security provisions that go beyond existing patient privacy laws.

Figures from the Congressional Budget Office suggest the use of electronic health records will lower Medicare and Medicaid costs. The CBO estimates that Medicare and Medicaid spending under HITECH will total $32.7 billion over the 2009-2019 period. However, CBO predicts that HITECH will save the Medicare and Medicaid programs a total of about $12.5 billion through 2019.

“Under current law, CBO predicts that about 45% of hospitals and 65% of physicians will have adopted HIT by 2019. CBO estimates that the incentive mechanisms in the HITECH Act will boost those adoption rates to about 70% for hospitals and about 90% for physicians,” notes the CRS summary.