Stimulus is golden opportunity, if government works through caveats
CHICAGO—The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) is a "once in a lifetime event" for providers to grab economic incentives to adopt health IT, but the government still must define vague terms and settle on certification requirements, according to David W. Roberts, vice president of government relations for the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS).
Roberts, during a presentation at the 2009 HIMSS conference this week, cited President Barack Obama in reflecting on the economic crisis, saying that "while you have challenges, you can also have opportunity." He added that the president and many legislators saw the recession as "an opportunity to promote health technologies."
The ARRA is five separate pieces of legislation. The two components of the bill that are relevant to the healthcare industry are the HITECH (Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health) Act and the focus on work force issues. ARRA allots $200 million, funneled through National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), for colleges to train health IT workers.
"The figures of $19 billion or $21 billion are commonly misquoted, but there is truthfully no specific figure in the bill. The only actual figure specified in the legislation is $2 billion for the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) for Health IT to be spent over a five-year period. Even the funds designated for ONC are not completely defined on how they should be spent, but some are allotted for state programs and certification purposes," he said. "Previously, all of health IT received about $60 million annually."
Also, a great deal of the stimulus is designated for entitlements, meant to incentivize providers to adopt health IT. "HIMSS has been trying to explain to providers that they will never see an opportunity like this again," Roberts said. "The Congressional Budget Office [CBO] has estimated that if providers adopt health IT, as encouraged in the bill, between FY12 [fiscal year 2012] and FY15, then they would receive $36 billion, which would result in a $15 billion savings between FY16 to FY19--which is how people have arrived at the figure of $21 billion. However, if more providers choose to become adopters, it could result in more entitlements throughout the designated five-year period."
Roberts said that HIMSS is encouraging providers to begin implementing or upgrading EHRs systems, even though the standards for the government money are incomplete and bonuses related to EHRs will not start until 2011. According to the HIMSS calculations, private practices that adopt health IT could receive a minimum reimbursement of $44,000, and providers could receive a minimum of $2 million. "The tricky part is that important terms such as ‘certification' and ‘meaningful use' have yet to be clearly defined," he noted.
The HITECH Act of the stimulus also focused on leadership, by setting up a health IT policy committee. This past week, 13 members (out of a potential 20) were appointed by the Government Accountability Office (GOA), meeting the bill's deadline of April 4.
"The legislation states that if the President believes that more people are needed on the committee, more can be appointed," he said. The bill also states that the secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) could designate the National e-Health Collaborative (NeHC), formerly the AHIC Successor, as a standards committee, even though it is currently a private company.
Roberts acknowledged that is a "concern" that an HHS secretary has yet to be appointed in such a fast-paced environment, but touted the President's choice of David Blumenthal, MD, as the new national health IT coordinator.
When asked if the administration was falling behind on their appointed deadline of Dec. 31 for the initial standards adoption deadline, Roberts said the current leaders in place "are doing a great job of keeping things moving until the new leaders are put into place."
Roberts, during a presentation at the 2009 HIMSS conference this week, cited President Barack Obama in reflecting on the economic crisis, saying that "while you have challenges, you can also have opportunity." He added that the president and many legislators saw the recession as "an opportunity to promote health technologies."
The ARRA is five separate pieces of legislation. The two components of the bill that are relevant to the healthcare industry are the HITECH (Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health) Act and the focus on work force issues. ARRA allots $200 million, funneled through National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), for colleges to train health IT workers.
"The figures of $19 billion or $21 billion are commonly misquoted, but there is truthfully no specific figure in the bill. The only actual figure specified in the legislation is $2 billion for the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) for Health IT to be spent over a five-year period. Even the funds designated for ONC are not completely defined on how they should be spent, but some are allotted for state programs and certification purposes," he said. "Previously, all of health IT received about $60 million annually."
Also, a great deal of the stimulus is designated for entitlements, meant to incentivize providers to adopt health IT. "HIMSS has been trying to explain to providers that they will never see an opportunity like this again," Roberts said. "The Congressional Budget Office [CBO] has estimated that if providers adopt health IT, as encouraged in the bill, between FY12 [fiscal year 2012] and FY15, then they would receive $36 billion, which would result in a $15 billion savings between FY16 to FY19--which is how people have arrived at the figure of $21 billion. However, if more providers choose to become adopters, it could result in more entitlements throughout the designated five-year period."
Roberts said that HIMSS is encouraging providers to begin implementing or upgrading EHRs systems, even though the standards for the government money are incomplete and bonuses related to EHRs will not start until 2011. According to the HIMSS calculations, private practices that adopt health IT could receive a minimum reimbursement of $44,000, and providers could receive a minimum of $2 million. "The tricky part is that important terms such as ‘certification' and ‘meaningful use' have yet to be clearly defined," he noted.
The HITECH Act of the stimulus also focused on leadership, by setting up a health IT policy committee. This past week, 13 members (out of a potential 20) were appointed by the Government Accountability Office (GOA), meeting the bill's deadline of April 4.
"The legislation states that if the President believes that more people are needed on the committee, more can be appointed," he said. The bill also states that the secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) could designate the National e-Health Collaborative (NeHC), formerly the AHIC Successor, as a standards committee, even though it is currently a private company.
Roberts acknowledged that is a "concern" that an HHS secretary has yet to be appointed in such a fast-paced environment, but touted the President's choice of David Blumenthal, MD, as the new national health IT coordinator.
When asked if the administration was falling behind on their appointed deadline of Dec. 31 for the initial standards adoption deadline, Roberts said the current leaders in place "are doing a great job of keeping things moving until the new leaders are put into place."