Electronic Medical Record/Electronic Health Record Systems of Office-based Physicians: United States, 2009 and Preliminary 2010 State Estimates

Abstract

Policymakers ’ interest in the progress of health information technology adoption by health care providers has increased greatly since The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was signed into law in 2009. A portion of the bill, the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act, authorized incentive payments through Medicare and Medicaid to providers that use certified electronic health records to achieve specified improvements in care delivery (1). The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services finalized the meaningful use criteria for the first 2 years of the three-stage incentive program in mid-2010 (2).