On February 17, 2009, President Obama signed into law a $789 billion dollar economic stimulus package, formally known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, or ARRA. Included in ARRA legislation is the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, also known as HITECH. HITECH allocates $19 billion to hospitals and physicians who demonstrate “meaningful use” of electronic medical records. Under HITECH, physicians can qualify for up to $44,000 in Medicare bonus incentives if they demonstrate “meaningful use” of an Electronic Health Record. The definition of “meaningful use” is still being worked out by ONCHIT but will likely include e-prescribing, chart sharing and quality of care measurements. Practice Fusion has participated in the public process by which “meaningful use” criteria are being discussed, and our EHR is guaranteed to meet these criteria.
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