Hospitals Play Dominant Role in Use of Electronic Medical Record Systems: Report

A new report by Kalorama Information reportedly found that hospitals and vendors will have a major say when it comes to the usage of electronic medical record systems.

 

According to the report, “EMR 2010 (Market Analysis, ARRA Incentives, Key Players, and Important Trends),” in 2009, the EMR market will grow to $13.8 billion. This is not encouraging growth, the report said, and the major reason for this is that the Solo practicing or small group practice-based physicians will have less to spend this season. The report said that the interest in EMR has grown after the announcement of government incentives of up to $18,000 in increased Medicare payments to doctors.

 

“There's a lot of focus right now on the HITECH incentives, but we think what vendors and health systems do to piggyback off these incentives is even more important,” Bruce Carlson, publisher of Kalorama Information, said. “A body at rest stays at rest unless acted upon by an outside force. We think that hospitals and large health systems will need to have parallel incentives.”

 

The report said that North Shore - Long Island Jewish Health System in New York is offering subsidies of up to $40,000 over five years to its affiliated physicians who implement EMR systems. Despite this, physicians collect money from CMS as well, the report said. Tufts Medical Center and Beth Israel Deaconess in Boston also have their own EMR incentive programs, states the report.

 

Recently, Kalorama published another report where it focuses on the demand for IT products in the healthcare market - with a focus on computer systems for hospitals, nursing homes, physician offices and other healthcare entities. Kalorama interviewed experts in the HIT industry and presents the latest findings on where the industry is headed. The report said there is tremendous excitement in HIT given the commitment to healthcare investment among healthcare entities.