The American Reinvestment and Recovery Act began funneling money into health adoption in 2009, and in 2011 providers could begin to receive incentive payments from CMS for the adoption and use of electronic health records.
However, health IT adoption among hospitals really took off in 2012, according to a new retrospective report from HIMSS Analytics and the Dorenfest Institute for Health Information.
The percent of hospitals' total operating budgets spent on IT jumped up in 2012. At the average facility, 2.74 percent of the total operating expenses came from the IT department in 2012, up from 2.39 percent in 2011 and 2.40 percent in 2010.
This increased expenditure is reflected in the IT achievements of the country's hospitals. In 2012, 205 hospitals were recognized for reaching stage 6 on the HIMSS Analytics' EHR maturity model, up from 102 hospitals that reached that milestone in 2011 and 80 that reached it in 2010. Additionally, 40 hospitals reached the pinnacle stage 7 in 2012, a new record.
The report's authors attribute this jump to the Supreme Court upholding Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act's individual insurance mandate, President Barack Obama's reelection and the release of the meaningful use stage 2 requirements as a signal to providers healthcare reform, and health IT adoption requirements, would continue.
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