This post was authored by William J Oetgen, MD, MBA, FACC, ACC's senior vice president of Science and Quality.

The implementation and use of health information technology (IT) is a crucial component to the systematic practice of quality cardiovascular medicine. Not only is health IT at the crux of ensuring appropriate and continuous patient care across different care settings, it also is vital to practice and hospital quality improvement efforts. Health IT also allows for improved data collection and reporting that can aide in identifying gaps in care and/or areas for further research. At the end of the day, health IT adoption and meaningful use also provides opportunities for increased reimbursement through several federal programs, including the E-Prescribing Incentive Program, the Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Program and the Physician Quality Reporting System. Meanwhile, those not currently participating in these efforts are at risk of penalties.

Over the last several years the growth in health IT has been unprecedented. Speaking at ACC.12 in Chicago this past March, Farzad Mostashari, MD, SCM, deputy national coordinator for programs and policy at the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT, noted that 34 percent of all physicians and 35 percent of all hospitals have adopted EHRs. In terms of cardiovascular professionals, a recent survey of the ACC’s CardioSurve panel indicates that 43 percent of cardiologists and 50 percent of practice administrators participated in the federal EHR Incentive Program in 2011. The latest numbers released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in February 2012 indicate that 2,538 physicians identified as cardiologists successfully participated in the program.  Fifty-eight percent of cardiologists responding to the 2012 survey indicated that they are participating or plan to participate in 2012.

Given the integral role of health IT in patient care, quality improvement and now physician reimbursement, it’s important that cardiovascular professionals understand how best to use health IT; the pros and cons of using health IT vs. waiting; and the fundamentals of the federal incentive programs in order to gauge eligibility and avoid looming financial penalties. Over the course of the next month, the ACC in Touch Blog will feature a series of blog posts on Thursdays detailing the federal incentive programs; providing overviews of ACC health IT resources and tools; and highlighting cases studies/lessons learned from members “in the trenches.” Webinars are also being planned with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, as well as some of our partners involved in providing health IT services to members.

We also invite you to share your own questions, challenges, lessons learned and EHR tips below. These will be compiled and featured in the July/August issue of Cardiology, as well as help guide us in the development of future tools and communications to aide in the ongoing transition to a digital world.

< Back to Listings