About the HITECH Act of 2009

What is the HITECH Act?

On February 17, 2009 a $787 Billion, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 aka “the Stimulus Bill,” was signed into law by the federal government. Included in this law is $19.2 Billion which is intended to be used to increase the use of Electronic Health Records (EHR) by physicians and hospitals; this portion of the bill is called, the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act, or HITECH Act. The government firmly believes in the benefits of using electronic health records and is ready to invest federal resources to proliferate its use. Title XIII in Division A, pages 112 through 165 and Title IV in Division B, pages 353 through 398, cover the HITECH portion of this economic recovery act.

What does the HITECH Act mean to physicians and hospitals? What incentives are available to me?

As described in the most recent published news, the intended use of the $19 Billion will be for incentive payments, grants and loans.

$17 Billion will be used for incentive payments to physicians and hospitals that participate in Medicare and Medicaid programs. These incentives will be issued to current users and new adopters of certified EMR systems, who use the system in a meaningful way. The certification process and standardization criteria have NOT yet been determined, and will be decided upon by the end of 2009. The government has NOT yet made any reference to partnerships with any existing EMR certification organizations.

What happens if I don’t adopt and EMR system?

After 2015, further financial incentives will not be available and penalties will kick in. There will be a 1% reduction in Medicare fees per year, up to 3% by 2017.