SECA 3: Demand for Health IT Services (EHR)

If a government policy increases the demand for a service, the price of that service tends to rise. If the government provides incentives to adopt a service then the demand for the service skyrockets. That’s exactly the case with Health Care IT. Hospitals, medical clinics, doctor's offices and other health care organizations are facing government-mandated deadlines in a host of areas such as electronic medical records (EMR), clinical systems and new privacy and medical-coding standards. The U.S. government's HITECH act under ARRA 2009 requires that health care organizations show "meaningful use" of certified health care IT products. As an incentive the government is providing financial subsidies to organizations willing to adopt these products by a specific deadline. Suddenly health care organizations across the country are increasing their technology budgets. HIMSS conducted a survey in 2010 among 398 of its members and 42% of respondents had identified meeting meaningful use criteria as their single IT priority during the next 2 years.

Here is a list of reasons driving the demand for Health IT services:
1. Meaningful use (MU) incentives and future reimbursement penalties for not meeting those guidelines.
2. MU, as defined for the EHR incentive program, eliminates ambiguity about what comprises an inpatient EHR, and provides guidance for implementation.
3. Vendor products are getting better, finally incorporating all required functionality, with improved ease of use.
4. Organizations are embracing the need to implement this technology and are committing resources to it.
5. Costs have always been a major barrier, and although the financial incentives of MU are tied to achievement rather than intentions, they are generous enough to cover part of the cost involved in implementing EHRs.
6. There are now enough success stories in U.S. hospitals and health systems to show that what is called for in MU can be done with current EHR technology.
7. Competition among provider organizations is forcing adoption; there is awareness among patients of the technology and they are demanding it.
8. Hospitals will need to share information with patients and with unaffiliated providers who are participating in the care of patients. In addition, there are mandates to report on required measures of performance as a byproduct of EHR use.
9. Physicians, nurses and other providers are less reluctant users of the EHR. Once past the learning curve and duplicative processes of paper and electronic record, productivity improvements may occur, which could help with shortages of primary care physicians and nurses.
10. Improved patient safety, quality of care, improved clinical outcomes, and reductions in LOS and readmissions.