Dr. Blumenthal Discusses Registration for EHR Incentive Programs

Dr. David Blumenthal, National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, discusses the importance of registering for the Electronic Health Record Incentive Programs, administered by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
Dr. Blumenthal talks about how the incentive programs are aimed at accelerating the nation's adoption of health information technology. He outlines how health care providers and hospitals can qualify for incentive payments from CMS through the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs by demonstrating the meaningful use of electronic health records. Dr. Blumenthal also discusses the federally supported technical assistance available to help eligible providers and hospitals adopt electronic health records and achieve meaningful use.
For more on registering for the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs, visit: www.cms.gov/EHRIncentivePrograms

[@Alliance4Health1]

Glad to see ONC reaching out via social media - hope to see more focus on communicating with consumers and patients as well. We know that they are a key stakeholder in our healthcare system and should be a key player in the design and use of health IT .

[@mpaagroup]

Given that everybody is well aware of the different EHR incentive programs; this video is very helpful in informing practices and healthcare organizations oimportancef the of registering their systems to obtain the said incentive programs. But more than the incentives, I think one of the most important aspect of registering for the program is the fact that the government will offer their support to help improve the quality of healthcare better.

[@swaldren]

Not all states are ready for registration for the Medicaid incentives, but eligible professionals can still register under Medicare to make sure there NPI and PECOS information is okay. Then you can go back and "switch" to Medicaid when your state is ready. Tip for Hospitals: register for "both" programs if there is any chance you will apply for both - no penalties if you do only one but likely delayed payments if you try to add in the future

[@erdoc3926]

What a joke!
Just look at an EHR with template documentation. You would derive more information from a record printed in swahili than the typical EHR. The winners are the EHR software venders, losers are the patients and providers.