Madison a test site for federal effort on electronic health records
The Madison area is one of 12 sites chosen to participate in a Medicare demonstration project that offers incentives to physicians for using electronic health records to improve patient care.
"I congratulate Madison on this achievement, which demonstrates the strong commitment of this community to improving health care starting at the local level," said Mike Leavitt, secretary of the U.S. Department of Heath and Human Services, who announced the selection at the Wisconsin Medical Society headquarters in Madison.
"The use of electronic health records, and of health information technology as a whole, has the ability to transform the way health care is delivered across our nation."
Once the project is fully under way, as many as 1,200 small-and medium-sized primary care physician practices across the nation will receive Medicare incentive payments in exchange for adopting certified electronic health records.
Incentive payments over the five years of the project could amount to as much as $58,000 per doctor or $290,000 per practice.
The demonstration project is expected to reduce errors and improve health outcomes for about 3.6 million Americans nationally.
Electronic health records are computerized patient medical files that include prescription records, test results, treatment histories, progress reports and X-rays. Benefits from electronic systems instead of paper files may include fewer adverse drug events and medical errors and fewer redundant tests and procedures, as well as faster diagnoses and treatment. Shorter wait times for patients and lower operating costs for doctors are also expected.
Findings from the project will help determine the role of electronic health records in delivering high-quality care and reducing errors. The demonstration will also assess the role of incentive payments in adoption and correct use of the records.
During the application period, HHS officials visited dozens of communities around the country to encourage them to apply. More than 30 applications were received, and 12 were selected because they showed strong collaborations to work on the project.
"The Wisconsin Medical Society, MetaStar and the Wisconsin Collaborative for Healthcare Quality share a commitment to improve the quality of health care in Wisconsin by expanding the use of health information technology," said Dr. Susan Turney, chief executive officer of the Wisconsin Medical Society.
She added that strong relationships with other private and public sector health-care providers would help the Madison area succeed.
The adoption of portable health information technology that can be shared by health-care providers is one of Leavitt's four cornerstones of value-driven health care.
The others are: measuring and publishing quality information so consumers can make better-informed decisions about health care providers and treatment options; measuring and publishing price information about procedures; and providing financial incentives for those who consume, provide and pay for high-quality care at competitive prices.
The other communities selected to work with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on the demonstration project range from county- and state-level to multi-state collaborations. Those in the first phase of implementation will be Louisiana, Maryland/Washington, D.C.; Pittsburgh, Pa., and South Dakota (and surrounding counties in Iowa, Minnesota and North Dakota.
The second round of implementation will include Madison and surrounding counties, as well as Alabama, Delaware, Jacksonville, Fla. and surrounding counties; Georgia, Maine, Oklahoma and Virginia.
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Madison was chosen to participate in a national project that uses incentives to encourage physicians to use electronic health records to improve patient care.
