Governor O’Malley and I understand that a healthy Maryland is a more productive Maryland. We are committed to improving the quality of health and health care in our State by encouraging wellness and prevention, reducing hospital readmissions and preventable complications, and eliminating health disparities.
That’s why we have made implementing electronic health records one of our 15 strategic goals. Adopting health IT is one of the best ways to reduce costs while improving the quality of care for all Marylanders.
In partnership with hospitals, physicians and other providers, we are moving quickly to increase the use of health IT. In 2009, we passed legislation that leveraged the incentives and penalties under the HITECH Act by requiring state payers to also offer incentives for early adoption of EHRs in their practices.
The shift to EHRs is happening with remarkable speed. In the last year, all 46 Maryland acute care hospitals have committed to safely and securely sharing clinical data, helping to reduce duplicative tests and avoid medical errors. In fact, many of these hospitals are already live and sharing data in this fashion on the statewide health information exchange.
Further, in pursuit of our goal to have an additional 1,000 primary care clinicians transitioned to EHRs by 2014, CRISP and the State have already connected with more than 750 providers to sign up for the EHR transition program. The adoption and use of EHRs will benefit patients, improve the quality of care and help clinicians maximize their incentive payments from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
As the O’Malley-Brown Administration’s leader on efforts to expand and improve health care and Chair of the Maryland Health Quality and Cost Council, I am committed to ensuring that Maryland uses every tool provided by the Affordable Care Act and other federal measures to lead the way in health IT adoption.
I strongly encourage all physicians and medical practitioners in Maryland to take advantage of the resources provided by CRISP and the Maryland Health Care Commission, along with numerous federal and state incentives, to assist with the implementation of electronic health records.
Working together, we can continue to lead the country in health innovation in order to make Maryland the healthiest state in the nation.
Sincerely,
Lt. Governor Anthony G. Brown
Click here to learn more about Lt. Governor Brown.