Tommy Thomson briefs Congressional caucus on healthcare IT

Healthcare IT News

By Bernie Monegain, Managing Editor

07/31/06

WASHINGTON – Former Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson told a congressional caucus last week that the decision physicians face today about implementing healthcare information technology is not about whether to go electronic, but how soon. Thompson and other panelists called for federal incentives to boost healthcare IT adoption by physicians.

More than 36 members of Congress attended the session on July 26. They represented the medical and dental doctors in Congress and the 21st Century Health Care Caucuses.

"Health Information Technology adoption is vital to the future of our Nation's health system," Thompson said. "We need interoperable solutions that provide physician incentives and give them options to choose which technology is right for them."

Thompson led a panel that briefed the lawmakers on the barriers physicians face in implementing electronic health record systems and other healthcare information technology.

A 2004 national survey of physicians conducted by the Commonwealth Fund showed that 56 percent of physicians viewed start-up costs as a major barrier to implementing healthcare IT. A more recent survey by the Centers for Disease Control indicates that one-quarter of office-based physicians report using fully or partially electronic medical record systems in 2005, a 31 percent increase from the 18.2 percent reported in the CDC’s 2001 survey.

For Dr. Michael A. Poss, a physician at Professional Park Medical Services in Carrollton, Ga., converting to an electronic record system seemed the only choice, though cost was always a factor, Poss said, particularly in the face of declining reimbursement rates for physicians.

"Professional Park Medical Services knew that we could not maintain the status quo and that our patients deserved the best in patient care, "Poss told lawmakers. "I am here today before Congress advocating for support and increased incentives for physician practices to adopt HIT. Our practice would have implemented an integrated EHR solution much sooner had financial incentives been aligned more properly."

"Hopefully, after today, members of Congress and their staff will better understand the pressures that physician practices are under from decreasing reimbursement rates to increasng costs to malpractice hikes," Poss said. "All affect the bottom line of critically important businesses like ours that are dedicated to supporting and caring for communities across America."