IPAs can help docs with HIT adoption, study says

As policy makers try to jumpstart health information technology in small physician practices, lessons from independent practice associations -- networks of small medical practices -- can offer guidance in overcoming barriers to HIT adoption and use, according to a new study by the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC).

Independent practice associations, or IPAs, which first formed in the 1970s to allow independent medical practices to accept risk-based managed care contracts, can serve as model in how to provide coordinated assistance with HIT activities to otherwise independent and relatively small physician practices, according to the study. Often because of inadequate technical and financial resources, small practices’ adoption of electronic health records (EHRs) and other HIT lags larger physician practices. And, despite broader trends of physicians moving to larger practice settings, a sizeable share of physicians is likely to practice in small groups for the foreseeable future. The study focused on the HIT activities of five organizations -- one management services organization, Physician Health Partners, Denver, that supports four IPAs; and four other IPAs: Genesis Physicians Group, Dallas; Huron Valley Physicians Association, Ann Arbor, Mich.; Physicians Medical Group of Santa Cruz County, Santa Cruz, Calif.; and Mid Rogue Independent Physician Association, Grants Pass, Ore.