The IVANS 2012 Healthcare Provider Survey examined the extent to which healthcare providers are eligible to participate in the Medicare EHR Incentive Program and their plans regarding implementing “stage one of meaningful use.” The study indicated that simply having an electronic Health Record (EHR) or Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system in place was insufficient to get financial incentives. In order to get a reduction in their Medicare fees, healthcare providers needed to ensure that 'stage one' was implemented. The study defined “meaningful use” as deploying certified EHR to produce significantly measurable results. Conducted electronically from January 5-12, 2012, the study surveyed more than 700 healthcare providers from across the United States.

According to the IVANS study, 42 percent of healthcare providers already used either EHR or EMR systems. However, 39 percent of respondents did not anticipate implementing stage one. The study found that 44 percent of those who did not plan to introduce stage one were not even eligible to take advantage of Medicare’s EHR Incentive Program. What was more surprising was that even many of the providers that were eligible for EHR incentives had no plans for capturing data electronically and sharing information.

“Whether eligible for meaningful use incentives or not, many providers point to such barriers as waiting on technology upgrades from vendors, integrating new changes into current workflow processes, and understanding and adopting complex Clinical Quality Measures (CQMs) within a short period of time. If these issues are not resolved and integrated into subsequent stages of meaningful use, it will be difficult for providers to become meaningful users, thus resulting in further misalignment of financial incentives down the road,” Schramm said in a release.

Additionally, the study found that 33 percent of providers surveyed cited budgetary hurdles as deterring them from implementing electronic information sharing systems; 21 percent said they were alarmed by constantly shifting technology requirements. IVANS described these concerns as “an area where health insurers can make a difference by aligning their pay-for-performance programs with federal meaningful use criteria for EMRs.”

IVANS will be demonstrating real-world implementations of standards-based interoperability technology at the Venetian Sands Expo Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, February 20-24, 2012.