In the five years since the HITECH Act was implemented, the policy has had mixed successes. While it was effective in upping the adoption rate of EHRs and health technology, the success of advanced functionalities like population health management have not surpassed expectations, according to a report in The Milbank Quarterly, a journal of population health and health policy.
Researchers reviewed quantitative and qualitative evidence of progress in the five years since the HITECH Act's implementation to evaluate the success of the program so far and identify key challenges.
They found many challenging and complex programs were carried out, such as widespread adoption of EHRs, electronic data sharing and using health IT more generally to improve healthcare delivery and outcomes.
However, key challenges do persist, particularly along the lines of supporting advanced functionalities like patient engagement initiatives and population health management. The researchers also note slowed progress related to interoperability and electronic communication.
"In some areas, HITECH's achievements to date have fallen short of the hopes of its proponents as it has proven challenging to move meaningful use beyond the initial low bar set by Meaningful Use Stage 1," researchers wrote.
They suggest achieving the goals of the HITECH Act required developing interdependent infrastructure and goals instead of a step-by-step pattern, such as adopt EHRs first and figure out interoperability later.
"It has proven easier to get providers to adopt EHRs, perhaps in response to financial incentives to do so, than to develop a robust infrastructure that allows the information in EHRs to be used effectively," researchers wrote.
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