Questions Raised About Stimulus Law Benefits for Health IT Vendors

Although the federal economic stimulus package allocates billions of dollars to support health IT implementation, it remains to be seen whether the funding will improve health care quality or simply boost sales for health IT vendors, the Dallas Morning News reports.

Under the stimulus law, hospitals and physicians who demonstrate “meaningful use” of electronic health records can qualify for federal incentive payments.

The Obama administration contends that EHRs will allow physicians to better coordinate patient care, reduce medical errors and avoid duplicate testing. Medical errors alone cost the U.S. about $37.6 billion annually, according to the Institute of Medicine.

However, some advocates are concerned that health care providers will be unable to achieve the administration’s goals if meaningful use criteria tie stimulus funding to simply purchasing software.

They caution that such action could benefit health IT software companies at the expense of achieving interoperability and improved patient outcomes.

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