It's a question J. Larry Read gets often: What will the federal stimulus package mean to University Hospital and Augusta?
It is a question yet to be answered.
"It is truly a work in progress," said Mr. Read, the CEO of University Health Care System.
However, it is bound to have an impact in one area: the adoption of electronic medical records.
Health care reform efforts envision an electronic medical record for each patient by 2014 to help eliminate paperwork and waste. The stimulus package includes $19 billion for health care information technology.
But that funding doesn't start kicking in until 2011, and most of it would reward those who are already "meaningful users" of certified electronic medical record systems, said Hal Scott, the vice president for information systems and chief information officer for MCG Health Inc.
Just what is a "meaningful user" has yet to be defined, he said, and industry groups are working on what those certified systems should look like. But he is confident the past five or six years MCG Health has spent putting an electronic record system together will pay off when those incentives, which would initially be more than $2 million a year, kick in.
"You almost have to have made the investment in order to get this incentive payment. That's why we think we are in pretty good shape," Mr. Scott said.
Mr. Read is also confident University will pass muster.
"Whatever they come up with, we will be well-positioned," he said.
Doctors Hospital has been implementing different pieces of an electronic record system since 2005, and "we are on track with the president's plan," Olena Scarboro, the director of marketing and public relations, said in an e-mail.
Smaller rural hospitals in Georgia might be left out. Because of lack of capital, "virtually none of them have made any serious preparations for electronic medical records," said Jimmy Lewis, the CEO of HomeTown Health, which represents 55 rural hospitals in Georgia.
Many have been waiting for the federal government to come up with standards for the systems, he said. Health information technology groups are working that out, Mr. Scott said.
Faced with so many other problems, rural hospitals "haven't bothered with it," Mr. Lewis said.
That could be a problem down the road because the legislation contains penalties for those not using electronic records by 2015, Mr. Scott said.
Reach Tom Corwin at (706) 823-3213 or tom.corwin@augustachronicle.com.
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I am not so sure I want a sata base for my medical records. Picture this before you act. The key to access will be your SSAN. Now the doctors will all be able to see what your medications are incase of an emergency. Along comes an illegal alien who steals and uses your SSAN for their medical problems. Now the good part, you are unconscious froman accident and the docs look up your records and treat you based on the meds the IA was prescribed. We can't stop ID theft now, whats to make us believe we can stop med record theft of the same type?
You'll be on an electronic data base if you ever plan on using Medicare- it's been on EDB for several years now. And if you currently have health insurance, you already are on a EDB.