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Following up on a promise made last year, HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt has officially proposed a $150 million plan which would give physicians incentives to use EMRs. A dozen communities can take part in the pilot program, and 100 physicians in each community can come on board. The plan, which would take place over five years, would give higher Medicare reimbursements (levels still unspecified) to physicians in smaller practices who use EMRs. Right now, Leavitt noted, only 15 percent or so of physicians in small practices are currently using EMRs. The downside, arguably, is that HHS doesn't plan to buy anyone an EMR. Under Leavitt's proposal, physicians must pay for the EMR upfront, defraying the costs later thanks to the incentives the plan generates.  More

A state task force based in Maryland has concluded that incentives such as higher reimbursement payments could meaningfully speed adoption of EMRs by doctors. The report, produced by the Task Force to Study Electronic Health Systems, argues that health IT can cut costs by avoiding duplicate testing and procedures and avoiding medication errors. They also concluded, as most others have who study the matter, that while EMRs, e-prescribing and HIEs have the potential to save money and improve care, it's not clear just how much money and time it can save, nor how substantial that quality improvement will be. That's why doctors need a push, said Dr. Jonathan Weiner, a professor of health policy and management at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. "You have to provide very significant incentives so somebody can make on it,” he says. More

A group of giant employers including GE, IBM and Verizon have come together to create a program offering big bonuses to primary care doctors who agree to create "medical homes" for patients. The effort is backed by Bridges to Excellence, a program run by health plans and big employers which has pay-for-performance programs for doctors in 18 states. The new program goes well beyond the process changes physicians must make to get P4P payouts--and pays physicians accordingly. Among its long-term goals is to help doctors finance needed infrastructure improvements such as electronic medical

records. More