HITECH
The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical health (HITECH) Act of 2009 was designed to decrease healthcare costs, improve health outcomes, coordinate care, and protect personal health information in an electronic format. Three of the core programs associated with HITECH include: establishing guidelines to address personal health information security breach notifications and develop guidelines to be utilized in an electronic environment, Medicare incentives for meaningful use of electronic health records (EHR), and Medicaid incentives for meaningful use of EHR. HITECH has provided guidelines for HIPAA and made sure that penalties and fines are more clearly defined (Goldstein & Thorpe 1-14). Meaningful use is designed to improve quality, safety, efficiency, and reduce health disparities while engaging patients in their healthcare. There are three components to meaningful use: using EHR in a …show more content…
Stage 2 and Stage 3 had been pushed back to allow physicians and facilities time to overcome certain barriers associated with developing an EHR that meets the requirements for meaningful use. One barrier that exists is that physicians needed better training on the upgraded EHR systems. It was discovered that additional training would help counter the loss in productivity that physicians felt when transitioning to electronic health records. Another large barrier has been designing and the utilization of patient portals. Unless providers take an active role in educating their patients about the use of patient portals they will not be utilized to their fullest potential. It is also important to note that some patients do not have access to technology or the understanding of how to access information electronically. Additional barriers that have been identified is inconsistencies in entering information into the EHR, which ultimately impacts the effectiveness. (Snyder &
The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical health (HITECH) Act of 2009 was designed to decrease healthcare costs, improve health outcomes, coordinate care, and protect personal health information in an electronic format. Three of the core programs associated with HITECH include: establishing guidelines to address personal health information security breach notifications and develop guidelines to be utilized in an electronic environment, Medicare incentives for meaningful use of electronic health records (EHR), and Medicaid incentives for meaningful use of EHR. HITECH has provided guidelines for HIPAA and made sure that penalties and fines are more clearly defined (Goldstein & Thorpe 1-14). Meaningful use is designed to improve quality, safety, efficiency, and reduce health disparities while engaging patients in their healthcare. There are three components to meaningful use: using EHR in a …show more content…
Stage 2 and Stage 3 had been pushed back to allow physicians and facilities time to overcome certain barriers associated with developing an EHR that meets the requirements for meaningful use. One barrier that exists is that physicians needed better training on the upgraded EHR systems. It was discovered that additional training would help counter the loss in productivity that physicians felt when transitioning to electronic health records. Another large barrier has been designing and the utilization of patient portals. Unless providers take an active role in educating their patients about the use of patient portals they will not be utilized to their fullest potential. It is also important to note that some patients do not have access to technology or the understanding of how to access information electronically. Additional barriers that have been identified is inconsistencies in entering information into the EHR, which ultimately impacts the effectiveness. (Snyder &