Refer A Colleague Report: Health IT Funds Need to be Allocated Properly
The $19 billion health information technology (IT) allocation in the stimulus bill needs to be tied to healthcare delivery innovation and payment reform, a new report from the Center for American Progress says.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act passed in February, and included $19 billion in health IT funding for projects such as incentives for physicians and hospitals to adopt electronic health records and health IT purchases for community health centers.
But the initiative will fail if it is treated as a pure technology implementation program, according to the report. The funding should help accelerate reform in the provider payment system and healthcare delivery innovation.
For more information on the report, visit http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2009/05/health_it.html.