A recent survey conducted by eHealth Initiatives and MedPlus reveal that primary care physicians aren't rushing to their local regional extension centers to sign up for technical services.
Of the 46 RECs (from a total of 60 RECs) that responded to the survey, 14 centers reported having signed contracts with local healthcare providers to deliver services.
As Jennifer Covich Bordenick, CEO of eHealth Initiatives, said, the results reflect early-stage development of RECs. Richard Mahoney, vice president of Healthcare Information Solutions for Quest Diagnostics and president of MedPlus, said the survey is an early snapshot of RECs.
What should we make of these early findings? It's not time to push the panic button. Without being out in the field talking with physicians, we can only assume what's happening. Here is my take: Implementing health IT - especially when you've never done something this big, disruptive and transformative - is a huge undertaking. Planning the transition should be done carefully, strategically and with all staff on board. Understandably, this takes time, and it should.
The stage 1 2011 incentives deadline is right around the corner, and the deadline is creating urgency among some healthcare providers, it should come second to proper selection, implementation, and system and workflow testing, among other things.
In other words, get it right the first time. If you don't make the first stage deadline, proper implementation and adoption will pay off bigger dividends in the long run.
I don't know when the next snapshot survey will come, but as we get to the end of the year and into 2011, the results will be more telling of where the majority of healthcare providers stand on health IT adoption. Stay tuned.
Photo by John-Morgan courtesy of Creative Commons license.
