McKesson has launched a new online resource for physicians and health systems to encourage providers to take advantage of the healthcare information technology (HITECH) stimulus.
The online resource, called Achieve IT, is designed to help healthcare providers optimize and accelerate efforts to improve care delivery as they put plans in place to achieve meaningful use and qualify for the new government incentives.
The HITECH stimulus provisions call for reimbursement incentives of up to $64,000 per physician based on meeting certain criteria. Hospitals can qualify for $2 million to $8 million in funding. The incentives take effect October 2010 for hospitals and January 2011 for physicians.
McKesson is also offering a free physician hotline to provide doctors and staff with information about electronic health record requirements.
"The HITECH incentives represent a significant step toward enabling healthcare that's safer, more efficient and better connected," said Pamela J. Pure, president of McKesson Technology Solutions. "By greatly lowering the barrier created by cost, the stage is set to accelerate the adoption of IT, particularly among physicians, the great majority of whom still rely on paper to practice medicine. We also believe the incentives will be a strong catalyst to drive the workflow changes necessary for hospitals to embrace computerized physician order entry and physician documentation in order to fully automate the health system's EHR."
Pure said that while provisions in the HITECH legislation related to privacy, system certification and meaningful use will take time to clarify, providers should begin planning now to qualify for the incentives.
"It's time to see the industry unite and work aggressively to automate and connect healthcare," she said. "It's time to leave the paper behind and use technology to create and connect a virtual care team. McKesson is committed to leading this effort and providing health systems and physician offices of all sizes with the information, consultation and planning tools required to build a strategic IT roadmap."
"McKesson's unique ability to support large health systems and small community hospitals as well as employed physicians and independent physician groups of all sizes puts us in a unique position to drive and advise this critical healthcare transformation," Pure said. "It's important for providers to begin this work now in order to benefit from the incentives when they take effect in 20 months."
