The For Medicare And Medicaid Services - 1178 Words

Introduction In 2009, The Recovery Act was passed by congress and signed into law by President Obama. This act was designed to jump start the economy and to create and save jobs. Its long term investment goals included computerization of medical records to reduce errors and health care costs. Under the direction of the US Department of Health and Human Services, health care providers had access to $27 billion dollars in economic stimulus money by utilizing Electronic Medical Records (EMR’s) and meaningful use. (Centers For Medicare and Medicaid Services, 2014) â€Å"Meaningful use† as defined by HealthIT.gov consists of using digital health records to improve quality, safety, efficiency, and reduce health disparities. Its purpose is to†¦show more content†¦As of January 1, 2014 all public and private health providers must have adopted and demonstrated â€Å"meaningful use† in order to maintain their existing Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement levels (Centers F or Medicare and Medicaid Services, 2014). The year 2014 is also significant in that from 2015 onwards, penalties are likely to be levied on entities that are non-compliant with the ability to upgrade to electronic record technologies. The proposed penalty is 1% and likely to increase incrementally to 5%. In order to meet the requirements set forth by the Federal Government many health care institutions began the painstaking process of seeking out an electronic program. These institutions sought to purchase a system that would have the capacity to interact with other programs, and the flexibility to allow all clinical personnel easy access to pertinent medical information such as labs, diagnostic test results and past medical history. Statement of the Problem Adcare hospital is a small privately owned facility located in Worcester County. Adcare offers nationally recognized inpatient treatment for people and families who struggle with substance abuse addictions. (Adcare Hospital of Worcester, Inc., 2007) Many of these patients rely on state funded health insurance and fall under the Medicare guidelines. The hospital first opened in 1984 after converting from a