Adoption of Electronic Medical Records in Maryland Reaches Key Milestone
Baltimore (June 6, 2011) – Maryland has subscribed all of its slots under the federal Health Information Technology Regional Centers Program, bringing federally-subsidized direct assistance support to 1,000 primary care physicians who have begun the process of implementing and using electronic medical records, or EHRs. The announcement was made by Lt. Governor Anthony G. Brown at an event co-hosted by the Chesapeake Regional Information System for Our Patients (CRISP), Maryland’s regional extension center for health IT (REC).
According to data released by the U.S. Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, as a percentage of its statewide goal, Maryland leads the nation in enrolling eligible physicians for the federally subsidized assistance. The benefits of EHRs can include improved care coordination, a reduction in medical errors, and streamlined workflows.
“Governor O’Malley and I have made implementing electronic health records one of our 15 strategic goals because health IT will help reduce costs while improving care for Marylanders,” said Lt. Governor Brown, co-chair of Maryland’s Health Care Reform Coordinating Council. “Maryland is leading the way in adopting technology that offers the opportunity to transform the healthcare delivery system, both in Maryland and nationally.”
The accelerating rates of adoption in Maryland mirror a national trend. According to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, adoption of basic EHRs among primary care providers increased by nearly 50 percent from 2008 to 2010. Today, around 41 percent of office-based providers say they intend to implement EHRs and qualify for incentives. Still, those primary care providers who have not yet selected an EHR and begun the transition need to act soon. Starting in 2015, providers who chose not to act will face penalties in the form of decreased reimbursement rates.
“Connecting physicians is a critical part of Maryland's strategy for health information technology ,” said DHMH Secretary Joshua M. Sharfstein, M.D.. “Today's announcement complements progress on the state's development of a health information exchange, to allow sharing of key data across institutions to benefit patients.”
RECs were created under the Health Information Technology Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. HITECH provided approximately $2 billion nationally in new programs to provide training and technical assistance and to demonstrate the effectiveness of health information technology in supporting improvement in care. Tens of thousands of primary care providers nationwide have signed on to work with 62 RECs to implement EHRs, according to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.
“Our only mission is to serve the primary-care community in the area of health information technology,” said Daniel Wilt, program director of the REC. “Though we are currently fully subscribed, we encourage physicians to continue reaching out to us and our MSO partners—there are a wide range of free resources available to practices via the CRISP website. We are hopeful that we may receive additional federal funds to subsidize assistance to more of Maryland’s clinicians.”
CRISP is a private, non-profit organization whose mission is to provide safer, more timely, efficient, effective, equitable, patient-centered health care to all Marylanders through health information technology. It has partnered with state-designated Management Services Organizations (MSOs) as the mechanism for achieving widespread adoption and meaningful use of EHRs. MSOs offer an array of on-the-ground services to make a practice’s transition as painless as possible. Each has committed to providing customers with connectivity to the wealth of clinical data on the statewide HIE.
Maryland, CRISP and other state health care and educational institutions have received nearly $25 million dollars from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to help implement health information technology in Maryland. Maryland was one of the first three states in early 2009 to have its State Health IT plan approved by the U.S. Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, allowing the state to move forward to implement a functional health information exchange. CRISP is also implementing Maryland’s statewide health information exchange.
To learn more about CRISP and how it is enabling the adoption and meaningful use of health information technology in Maryland, please visit
www.crisphealth.org.
About CRISP
CRISP is a private, non-profit organization whose mission is to provide safer, more timely, efficient, effective, equitable, patient-centered health care to all Marylanders through health information technology. With support from a broad coalition of stakeholders in the state’s government, healthcare and technology sectors, CRISP has been designated Maryland’s statewide health information exchange by the Maryland Health Care Commission; the HIE is currently being deployed. CRISP is also serving as the regional extension center for health IT for the state of Maryland; the program’s goal is to assist 1,000 Maryland priority primary care providers in becoming meaningful users of HIT by 2012. CRISP is supported through the state’s unique all-payor rate setting system and with federal grant funding.
Media contact: David Finney
301-560-6999 x203