Steven Waldren, MD, director of the Center of Health Information Technology at the American Academy of Family Physicians, gave an interesting provider perspective about meaningful use, financial incentives and hospitals reaching out to physician groups in a recent Q&A.
As he pointed out, there's a clear business case for hospitals to offer EHRs and create the connectivity to local physician groups. It's actually in the form of eliminating hospital readmission rates and avoidance of "never events," which means hospitals would get paid for providing efficient, high-quality care.
There's also the intangible benefit of building loyalty between hospital and physician group. Physician groups may have to overcome feelings of being beholden to hospitals and look more to how this relationship benefits them. Who wouldn't want to refer their patients to a hospital that has established a reputation for high quality care and greater efficiency and patient safety, as result of health IT adoption? That makes patients feel more confident in their primary care physician and their PCP's relationships with inpatient providers.
Also, if cost is an issue for a small physician practice, hooking up to a hospital's EHR system brings that price tag down significantly. Hooking up to a hospital's EHR means physicians have a complete and updated view of their patients and can make more informed treatment decisions that ideally would lead to better clinical outcomes and reduced hospital readmissions. These goals are in line with meaningful use of EHRs, which then means qualifying for the incentive payments.
