HITECH Act Analysis

In 2009, President Obama signed the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act to promote meaningful use of health information technology (Jha, 2015). Before the HITECH Act was passed, only about 17% of U.S. doctors and about 9% of U.S. hospitals were using an EHR according to Jha (2015). During 2013, the percentages increased to

The study measured whether each hospital had implemented basic EHRs in the years before and after the HITECH Act. Results showed that the annual rate of EHR adoption for eligible hospitals increased from 3.2 percent before the act to 14.2 percent afterward. Ineligible hospitals also saw an increased from 0.1 percent to 3.3 percent. These results show increased EHR adoption was directly correlated to the HITECH Act.

Healthcare and health information technology (health IT) are undergoing transformative change at an unprecedented pace. Strategic planning has become a major discussion point among CIOs, CTOs, CMIOs, and IT Directors. Whether it is implementing enterprise-wide electronic health record (EHR) systems, working toward compliance with the “meaningful use” EHR Incentive Program, enabling patients’ involvement through PHRs, transitioning to ICD-10, establishing insurance exchanges, becoming an accountable care organization, or even deploying a medical home, healthcare executives are confronted with a confluence of high-priority initiatives.

The HITECH act was implemented by U.S congress in order to ensure meaningful adaptation of EHR technology and confirms the providers under Medicare and Medicaid will get payment through the incentives by acceptance of this technology. The main goals under the act are as follows:

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 identified three main components of meaningful use: the use of a certified EHR in a meaningful manner, electronic exchange of health information to improve quality of care, and the use of technology to submit clinical outcomes and quality measures (Heath Resources and Service Administration, n.d.). ARRA includes many measures to modernize our nation’s infrastructure, with the “Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act” being an example. The HITECH Act is an effort led by Centers for Medicare and Medicare Services (CMS) in support of electronic health records and meaningful use (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC 2016). According to Galbraith (2013), the HITECH Act aims to promote the use of EHRs by providing over $27 billion in monetary incentives for health care providers that become “meaningful users”. CMS uses these core objectives to determine if a health care provider has satisfied meaningful use and is eligible to receive financial incentives (Galbraith, 2013).

The Affordable Care Act of 2010 marks a new era in American health care. Yet in many ways, this era began more than a year earlier, with the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 and its Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) provisions. Although HITECH may be viewed narrowly as legislation to

HITECH stands for The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act It is legislation that was created and signed in 2009 by President Obama. The electronic health records (HER) legislation activate the adoption and embracing technology in the United States. HITECH signed by President Obama into law on Feb. 17, 2009, as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) economic stimulus bill.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act made an investment in the year 2009 to encourage the adoption and implementation of the electronic health records (EHRs)(Cite). EHRs incentive payments were authorized through Medicare and Medicaid to clinicians and hospitals when they privately and securely used EHRs for achieving improvements in care delivery by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH). The healthcare organizations are expected to demonstrate meaningful use of EHRs. This rule of meaningful use has been implemented to strike a balance between acknowledging the urgency of adopting EHRs for improving the healthcare system and identifying the challenges that would be put forth

Prior to the federal mandate of EHR, research continued to show the fallacies of the healthcare system like the report published from the Institute of medicine, stating that “medical errors are the 8th leading cause of deaths in the U.S. and cost approximately forty billion dollars a year” (Overview, 2012). This was one of many indicators that healthcare needed to be reformed and in 2009, the president signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act or HITECH Act, which mandated that all healthcare providers must comply and begin to transition to electronic medical records (EMR) and demonstrate “meaningful use.” This act set up a timeline, which established that practices and hospitals needed to be up and running with EMR in order to continue receiving reimbursements from federal programs like Medicaid and Medicare.

Oracle’s White Paper document (2011) suggests that, “The Health Information Technol-ogy for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH) forces health care providers and their business

In 1996 president, Clinton signed an act called the Health Information Portability and accountability Act (HIPAA). HIPAA was put into action because many employers were denying health coverage for pre-existing conditions. The primary goal of the law is to make it easier for people to keep health insurance, protect the confidentiality and security of healthcare information and help the healthcare industry control administrative costs. Since 1996, HIPAA has a length timeline of new proposals and rules. Such as defining covered entities and authorized release of Protect health information (PHI). Since the initial act was since there have been many advancements in technology have made the government expand on the Act adding the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) act. This act was implemented for all health systems to move to electronic charting to minimize violations and security breaches.

aperwork; the NYU Langone Medical Center chooses to implement new health informatics technologies to impact its health care delivery and management by purchasing their "Meaningful Use" Certified electronic health records system, “Epic.” Because the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) portion of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) stimulus package allocation of funds for hospitals who meet the requirements of what is known as "Meaningful

Legislators created the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act to promote effective technology implementation among care providers. [4] In part, the act addresses privacy and security of electronic health records. The act also reinforces parts of the civil and criminal sections of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

HITECH Act provides billions of dollars in incentive payments through Medicare and Medicaid programs to providers that meaningfully use EHR. The HITECH Act also revised many segments of the Social Security Act (SSA) and in doing so, recognized the accessibility of incentive payments to providers to encourage the acceptance and Meaningful Use of Certified Electronic Health Record Technology (CEHRT). The ARRA provides the incentives to the following groups: hospitals, healthcare clinics, private practices, nursing facilities, long term health care facilities, and metal institutions.

I really enjoyed reading the article because it provided very detailed information on the way that the HITECH foreseen the rebirth of the healthcare system. My understanding of the article is the new technology in healthcare is geared to attracted all ages and ethnicity. The HITECH Act is trying to make healthcare easy and convenient for all the United States citizens. The article used a comparison for people using that cellular phone for all different things such as: viewing the email, viewing text message, social media, and etc. With this said the HITECH Act is trying to capture the attending of those individuals that do almost all their daily living with their cellular phone. I know the technology will be helpful to the patients in a way to control their healthcare decisions. I agree that having access to your healthcare record or even making an appointment by using you