Tracking Electronic Health Record Adoption And Capturing Related Insights in U.S. Hospitals

The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, Title XIII of Division A and Title IV of Division B of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), Pub. L. No. 111-5, set forth a plan for advancing a nationwide health information technology infrastructure to facilitate the electronic use and exchange of information and to improve the quality and efficiency of health care, among other objectives. Central to this vision of nationwide electronic health information exchange is the use of electronic health records (EHRs). The HITECH Act authorizes the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to administer incentive payments to eligible professionals (EPs), eligible hospitals, and critical access hospitals (CAHs) for adopting, implementing, or upgrading certified EHR technology (Medicaid incentives only), and for demonstrating �meaningful use� of certified EHR technology (Medicare and Medicaid incentives).� Since 2008, ONC has partnered with the AHA through grants administered through NIH to track the use of health IT and related insights in U.S. hospitals. ONC now has its own grant management capability, and more importantly, is explicitly tasked through the HITECH Act with overseeing many federal efforts relating to health IT. As a result, continuing to track the adoption of electronic health records and related attitudes and insights in U.S. hospitals is critical to the responsibilities of ONC and evaluating the impact of Medicare and Medicaid incentives and related ONC programs.