According to a December 30, 2009 article in the NY Times, entitled “Bonus Planned for Digital Medical Records”, Medicare officials have outlined a plan to reward medical offices and hospitals that maintain systems of electronic medical records. Under the proposed stimulus, billions of dollars will be handed out across the country to healthcare providers that keep updated digital medical records of their patients. The announcement is just a proposal, however, and the plan does not expect to be completed until the spring.

The article features a quote from David Blumenthal, the national coordinator for health information technology, who says that “Widespread adoptions of electronic health records holds great promise for improving health care quality, efficiency, and patient safety”.

The proposed plan will provide bonus payments to health care professionals who use electronic medical records for at least 80 percent of their medical instructions. These incentives will facilitate America’s full transfer to electronic medical records, which President Obama has promised by 2014.  According to Obama administration officials, using digital health records will reduce costly medical errors and duplicate testing.

The national implementation of electronic medical records will also result with a high demand for healthcare technology professionals, such as medical billing and coding specialists, who can help medical offices and hospitals maintain these systems of electronic medical records.

Electronic Medical Records are revolutionizing healthcare in America. The system will help create a more efficient system of care that will benefit both doctors and patients. Check out this video from IBM that gives some great information on electronic medical records, and provides some  valuable footage of digital records in action.

1. Federal stimulus money is being poured into the cause.

a.  As part of President Obama’s “American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009”, $19.2 billion is being invested into America’s transition to digital health records.

b.  John Kerry’s recent legislation “The Small Business Health Information Technology Act of 2009” will make family doctors and small medical offices eligible for Small Business Administration loans to cover the costly transition to electronic medical records.

2. Obama has called for mandatory digitization of medical records by 2014.

a.  When Obama was elected president, he guaranteed that all health records in America will be digital by 2014.

b.  As electronic medical records become standard in medical offices and hospitals, so will medical billing and coding specialists.

3.  Major corporations are also helping the cause.

a.  General Electric recently launched a program to increase access to technology, and reduce the cost of transitioning to electronic medical records.

b.  Microsoft and Kaiser Permanente have partnered in an attempt facilitate an efficient and timely transfer to universal digital health records.

4.  Baby boomers are aging.

a.  With the largest generation of Americans entering retirement, more Americans will need medical attention than ever before.

b.  A White House report projects a 48% growth from 2000-2016 in the demand for “healthcare support” workers, a group that includes medical records and health information technicians.  Check out the graph here.

5.  Heavier workloads + electronic medical records = physicians need help

a.  With more Americans needing medical attention, and the shift to digital health records looming, more and more doctors are in need of medical billing and coding specialists to take care of their insurance claims; and the demand will only increase.

Electronic medical records will improve the efficiency and reliability of the healthcare system in America. Check out this report that outlines some of its benefits.