A team of Wellmont Health System cardiologists placed among the first few hundred doctors to reach a federal benchmark for their use of electronic health records technology, health system officials announced.
“We’re at the forefront of a transition that’s taking place in health care across the U.S.,” health system cardiovascular services Vice President Tim Atterbery said during the event, which was held at the Wellmont CVA Heart Institute’s Kingsport office.
During the news conference, Attebery said Heart Institute cardiologist Keith Kramer was the 312th physician in the country to reach the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ “meaningful use” standards that recognize the efficient use of electronic health-care records.
Kramer’s ability to reach the standard so early makes him not only the region’s first physician to comply, he continued, but also makes him the country’s second cardiologist to reach this benchmark.
This level of success means the Heart Institute can collect on nearly $1.2 million in federal incentive payments, Attebery continued, and has helped the health system convince a medical software company to hold a special conference in Kingsport later this summer.
CMS’ meaningful use standards recognize doctors and health-care providers for proper and efficient use of electronic medical records – a technology that’s been shown to reduce health care costs by avoiding duplicate medical tests and procedures and easing communication between doctors who treat a patient.
The White House showed its commitment to the proper use of this technology when it included $17 billion in the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to pay doctors cash incentives of up to $44,000 per person if they reach the government’s meaningful use standards early.
These incentive payments will run out in February 2012, according to a CMS document, while doctors who have not met the meaningful use standards by 2015 risk having their Medicare reimbursement rates reduced and will receive less money for treating Medicare patients.
Attebery said a key to the Heart Institute’s accomplishment was that it started using an HER software program supplied by NextGen Healthcare nearly three years ago. Because of this, he said, the center’s other doctors had no problems complying with the standards soon after Kramer reached his goal.
NextGen Healthcare is also the key to the final part of the Heart Institute’s announcement, Attebery said, noting that the technology company has offered to host a training conference featuring Kramer and other cardiologists because they were its first clients to reach the standards.
This conference will take place Aug. 19-20 at the Meadowview Convention Center in Kingsport, he said, adding that it’s expected to draw nearly 100 physicians from across the country.
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