Pittsburgh Area Physicians to Receive Payments for Adopting EHR Systems
The Pittsburgh Regional Health Initiative (PRHI) has been selected to participate in a Medicare demonstration project that will pay physicians who use electronic health records (EHR).
The Pittsburgh region was one of 12 communities across the nation selected for the five-year project. The project will be phased in over the next year and a half.
Physician practices will receive financial incentives if they show improvement on specific clinical quality measures through the use of certified EHRs. Total payments could be as high as $58,000 per physician or $290,000 per practice.
Findings from the project will help demonstrate the role of EHRs in delivering high quality care and reducing errors and assess whether financial incentives encourage the adoption and use of EHRs.
The Pennsylvania Medical Society supported PRHI’s bid to be included in the project. Peter S. Lund, MD, president of the State Society, wrote a letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), saying that PRHI "has the ability to lead this multi-stakeholder collaboration."
PRHI has spearheaded several regional quality initiatives—managing a regional cardiac data registry, creating a physician forum to better manage diabetes and depression, and recruiting hospitals to reduce central line-associated blood infections.
Dr. Lund also praised CMS for launching the project.
"We firmly believe that voluntary adoption of EHR technology by physicians is an important aspect to improving patient safety and quality, as well as in care coordination for the treatment of chronic diseases," Dr. Lund wrote.
Last Updated: 7/17/2008