Related Links

A new study estimates that more than 45,000 physicians would be eligible for Medicaid information technology incentives of up to $42,500 to $63,750--depending on their Medicaid case mix--under the federal stimulus package.

If all eligible physicians received their full share of funds for meaningful use of electronic health records, the total cost to Medicaid would be more than $2.8 billion, according to researchers at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services in Washington, D.C.

Researchers analyzed 2006 data from the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey. This is an annual survey on the provision and use of ambulatory care services conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"Based on an analysis of 2006 NAMCS data, we estimate that more than 45,000 office-based physicians (15 percent of the roughly 300,000 practicing office-based physicians in the country) will qualify for Medicaid incentives based on their Medicaid patient volume," according to the report. "In addition, we estimate that 99% of all health center physicians meeting a predominant practice standard will qualify for the Medicaid HIT incentives."

Among estimated eligible physicians, nearly 50% practice pediatrics, 21% practice psychiatry, 13% specialize in OB/GYN, and 11% practice primary care.

Researchers also estimated that the stimulus law totals $49 billion in funds for health I.T. investments. In addition to Medicare/Medicaid incentives, stimulus funds cover grants and loans for I.T. adoption, health information exchanges, federally qualified community health centers, federal agencies and Indian Health Services, and expanding broadband to underserved areas, among other projects.

More information and the complete report, "Boosting Health Information Technology in Medicaid: The Potential Effect of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act," are available at gwumc.edu/sphhs/about/news.cfm?view=news&d=8638.

--Joseph Goedert