Connecticut Hospitals Leading The Nation In Adopting Health IT

WALLINGFORD — Statistically, Connecticut hospitals are ahead of the pack in becoming “meaningful users” of health information technology (IT) to improve safety and efficiency.

All 29 of Connecticut’s not-for-profit hospitals are implementing health IT to improve the quality, safety, and efficiency of the health care system, and will participate in the federal government’s Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Program.

This week, 14 Connecticut hospitals, including Danbury, Bridgeport, and Griffin Hospitals, announced an intent to achieve “meaningful use” of health IT in 2011 as part of the EHR Incentive Program. The EHR Incentive Program provides a financial incentive for the “meaningful use” of certified EHR technology to achieve health and efficiency goals according to a set of standards determined by the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). 

By using an EHR system, providers will improve the quality and safety of health care through improved information and coordination, fewer errors, and lower costs.

These hospitals, through years of work and millions of dollars of investment, have positioned themselves to become early adopters of the new federal standards regarding the implementation and use of technology to advance the health care of individuals in Connecticut.

While all Connecticut hospitals are meaningfully using information technology to improve care, with some involved in complex longer-term projects that exceed government standards and will take several years to implement, the hospitals making the announcement are those intending to comply with the government standard in 2011. 

Others will soon follow and all intend to meet the federal criteria in advance of the 2015 deadline. The four-year window to begin the program reflects the complexities in achieving “meaningful use,” according to the government’s definition, including significant time and expense associated with adopting, implementing, and upgrading clinical and other information systems, available resources, and the availability of software system vendors to work with hospitals to implement the systems.

The adoption of health information technology in Connecticut is being achieved in collaboration with other partners in the state.

The Connecticut Hospital Association (CHA) and Connecticut hospitals have been working with eHealthConnecticut, a not-for-profit organization that represents a collaborative approach for meeting the challenges of health information technology adoption and interoperability for the State of Connecticut. 

Partnering Agencies

Drawing on a four-year, $5.7 million grant from the Office of the National Coordinator, US Department of Health and Human Services, and teaming with the Connecticut State Medical Society, eHealthConnecticut has been actively supporting health care providers in accelerating the adoption of health IT.  

As the statewide “Regional Extension Center,” eHealthConnecticut is focused on helping thousands of primary care providers select, implement, and achieve meaningful use of electronic health records systems.

Other collaborators include the Department of Public Health (DPH), which helped launch the Health Information Technology Exchange of Connecticut (HITE-CT), a public-private entity with legislative authority to develop health information exchanges in the state; the Department of Social Services, which is administering the state’s Medicaid incentive program; and Capital Community College.

The progressive move to EHRs in Connecticut generally mirrors a national trend in which a significant proportions of hospitals and doctors already plan to adopt electronic health records and qualify for federal incentive payments

Four-fifths of the nation’s hospitals, and 41 percent of office-based physicians, currently intend to take advantage of federal incentive payments for adoption and meaningful use of certified EHR technology, according to survey data released January 13 by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC). 

The survey information was released as the registration period opened for the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs.

Interest Is Improving

David Blumenthal, MD, MPP, the national coordinator for Health Information Technology, said the survey numbers represent a reversal of the low interest in EHR adoption in previous years.  He credited leadership from the medical community and the federal government for the improved prospects for adoption and use of health information technology (health IT).

“For years we have known that electronic health records would improve care for patients and bring about greater cost effectiveness in our health sector, yet adoption rates by health care providers remained low,” Dr Blumenthal said.  “In 2009, Congress and the President authorized major new federal support for EHR adoption and use, and in combination with medical professional and hospital leadership, I believe we are seeing the tide turn toward widespread and accelerating adoption and use of health IT.”

The most recent data comes from surveys commissioned by ONC and carried out in the course of regular annual surveillance by the American Hospital Association (AHA) and the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), an agency of HHS’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The AHA survey found that 81 percent of hospitals plan to achieve meaningful use of EHRs and take advantage of incentive payments.  About two-thirds of hospitals (65 percent) responded that they will enroll during Stage 1 of the Incentive Programs, in 2011–2012.

The NCHS survey found that 41 percent of office-based physicians are currently planning to achieve meaningful use of certified EHR technology and take advantage of the incentive payments.  Four-fifths of these, or about a third of all office-based physicians (32.4 percent), responded that they will enroll during Stage 1 of the programs. 

Only 14 percent of respondents said they were not planning to apply for meaningful use incentives.

Additional survey data from NCHS show that significantly increasing numbers of primary care physicians have already adopted a basic EHR, rising by 50 percent from 19.8 percent of primary care physicians in 2008 to 29.6 percent in 2010. 

The eHealthConnecticut center in Wallingford is among 62 Regional Extension Centers (RECs) across the nation that offer customized, on-the-ground assistance, especially for smaller-practice primary care providers and for small hospitals and clinics.

“We know that adoption of EHRs and conversion to EHR-based care is expensive and challenging, especially for smaller providers,” Dr Blumenthal said.