A
study from Mathematical Policy Research
and the American Hospital Association, published in Health Affairs, finds
many critical access hospitals and other smaller hospitals are at risk to fail
achieving meaningful use and face Medicare payment penalties in 2015.
While meaningful use has led
to increased adoption of EHRs, much work remains to be done, according to the
study. “The majority of eligible hospitals did not achieve meaningful use in
the first two years of the program. Furthermore, certain types of
hospitals--particularly smaller institutions--were less likely than others to
have received incentive payments. These findings suggest that at least as of
the conclusion of the program’s first two years, the digital divide persists.”
Critical-access and smaller
hospitals in particular face three tough challenges, the study notes:
* Low patient volume
complicates long-range planning and limits ability to maintain adequate cash
flow,
* The hospitals may not be
able to offer competitive salaries for skilled information technology
professionals, and
* Smaller hospitals may have
difficulty finding a suitable I.T. vendor.
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