Benefits And Incentives Of Healthcare It Software Implementation

The healthcare industry is constantly focused on ways to provide better service to patients and how to cut costs throughout the process. One of the major pushes for improving the quality and cost of healthcare has been the movement towards the implementation of healthcare IT software into medical facilities. Healthcare IT is defined as "providing the umbrella framework to describe the comprehensive management of health information and its secure exchange between consumers, providers, government and quality entities, and insurers." The advances in healthcare information technology (IT) software aims to improve healthcare quality, prevent medical errors, lower costs, decrease or eliminate medical paperwork, and much more. With the recent drive for medical facilities to implement healthcare IT into their practice, the government is now willing to reward facilities who implement electronic medical records.

The healthcare industry has made significant strides in technology with the development of electronic medical records (EMR). EMR is a computerized history of patient health information that is easily accessed by medical facilities. EMR's are housed on health information systems that allow storage, retrieval and manipulation of records by healthcare providers. These modern electronic capabilities have proved to assist in the goals of improving healthcare quality by decreasing medical errors and reducing costs.

Healthcare providers are expected to see major benefits from EMR programs. If the direct result of reducing costs does not entice healthcare providers enough, they also receive savings through many of the new health acts and services currently in place. Incentives are given to those that participate in electronic medical records, and in the future years to come, penalties will be given to those facilities that do not participate. Examples of incentives are through the Health Information Technology for Economics and Clinical Health Act (HITECH) provisions in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). They both offer a bonus for medical facilities and healthcare providers that participate in the electronic medical record programs.

The ARRA HITECH incentives deal more with electronic health records (EHR) or EMR’s. President Barrack Obama signed this act into law in February 2009. Healthcare providers and medical professionals who provide Medicare and Medicaid Services as well as EMR's are eligible to receive as much as $44,000 in incentives. ARRA HITECH is just one example of the many incentive programs that the government has approved to help increase the push to modernize today’s healthcare industry. Healthcare providers that do not participate in electronic health records miss out on these as well as the obvious return on investment and cost savings. This is just the beginning - the U.S Department of Health and Human Services is continuing to put efforts toward healthcare information technology software and developments. It is the wave of the future, the sooner your medical facility jumps on the better.

By: Jesse B. Fisher

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Binovia is a leading provider of electronic health records. We provide healthcare IT services specializing in healthcare computer repair and networking, biomedical and clinical engineering, healthcare informatics and electronic medical records. We provide service throughout the entire United States. You can visit our website to learn more at www.binovia.com/ or call us at (402) 331-0202