As to what this means for us, taken from this summary of the Economy Recovery Stimulus Act:
Funding for Health Information Technology (IT) through Medicare and Medicaid Incentives. This bill promotes the use of health information technology (health IT), such as electronic health records, by: requiring the government to take a leadership role to develop standards by 2010 that allow for the nationwide electronic exchange and use of health information to improve quality and coordination of care; investing $19 billion in health information technology infrastructure and Medicare and Medicaid incentives to encourage doctors, hospitals, and other providers to use health IT to electronically exchange patients’ health information; and strengthening Federal privacy and security law to protect identifiable health information from misuse as the health care sector increases use of health IT. If the bill is enacted, approximately 90% of doctors and 70% of hospitals would adopt and use certified electronic health records within the next decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office. In turn, that would save the government more than $12 billion (through reduced spending on Medicare, Medicaid, and other programs) and generate additional savings throughout the health sector through improvements in quality of care, care coordination, and reductions in medical errors and duplicative care. The estimated net cost of this provision is $17.2 billion; in addition, $2 billion for affiliated grants and loans is available through discretionary funding.
Anybody want to take the first stab at how this will impact the physical therapy world?
