Health care’s move from paper to pixels slow

Electronic health records are at the center of some of the key reforms of the Affordable Care Act, because having reliable data to track patients, trends and possible fraud is one of the ways reformers think they will eventually be able to bend the cost curve. But so far, only a scant number of providers are fully using the technology — and even fewer use it so as to qualify for federal incentive payments.

Through mid-May, just 1,026 registered hospitals and physicians out of a possible 56,599 have shown they use electronic records and other digital technology to meet federal “meaningful use” standards, and only 861 of them have actually received payment for doing so, according to data collected by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The stunningly low numbers reflect a variety of factors. The Medicare and Medicaid electronic records program is relatively new, with the first payments going out a few weeks ago. And providers have had only two weeks to show CMS they are meeting the payment requirements. Finally, the low percentage of users reflects a rush into a technology that may not be readily available to all. Even so, the hospital and physician lobbies see another problem at work. To groups such as the American Hospital Association, the American Medical Association and many others, the low percentage of providers who got the bonus payments is proof that a one-year delay is needed before a second set of requirements begins in 2013.