Influence of HITECH subsidy payments on the Rate of Adoption of Electronic Health Records by Primary Care Physicians

 

Title: Influence of HITECH Subsidy Payments on the Rate of Adoption of Electronic Health Records by Primary Care Physicians.

 Authors: Eric W. Ford, Stephen T. Mennemeyer, Nir Menachemi, Saurabh Rahurkar

 Background.The electronic health record (EHR) is supposed to improve patient care by making it easier for health care providers to check medical history, coordinate care among providers and undertake comparative data analysis. The adoption of EHRs through much of the 2000’s has been slow due to provider concerns about the cost of installation and maintenance, disruptions of the workflow and loss of productivity during adoption, and concerns about data security. The HITECH Act of 2009 provided subsidies to eligible providers to install and engage in “meaningful use” of EHRs. Beginning in 2011, physicians who installed federally certified and engaged in “meaningful use” became eligible to receive up to $44,000 or $65,000 respectively from either Medicare or Medicaid. Although these subsidies cover only a part of the cost of EHRs, they have been expected to substantially encourage their adoption.

Methods. This paper examines the rate of adoption of EHRs using data from various surveys of primary care physicians. Specifically it looks for evidence on changes in the rate of adoption  in preparation for the start of subsidy payments. The paper estimates alternative models in Bass, Logistic and Gompertz frameworks.

Results. We find evidence that the HITECH subsidies encouraged adoption as anticipated but results are uneven across various provider types.