HHS Believes Doctors Should Adopt EHRs To Avoid Payment Cuts

Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt has stated that physicians should have to adopt IT to avoid a pay cut from Medicare in 2008. A 10% pay cut for providers treating Medicare patients is scheduled to begin Jan.1, 2008. Widespread EHR use has been touted as a way to reduce medical errors and curb rising health care costs, but lawmakers are divided on how to pay for it. Leavitt has put the responsibility on physicians. He believes that any new legislation should require physicians to implement health information technology that meets department standards in order to be eligible for higher payments from Medicare. Statistics have shown that only about 10% of physicians in solo or small group practices use EHR systems. It is possible that Medicare legislation will include a phased-in requirement that physicians use electronic prescribing systems.