Insurance Companies announce Incentives for EMR/EHR Programs

Aetna Statement in Support of U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Initiative on Electronic Health RecordsTuesday October 30, 4:45 pm ET
HARTFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aetna (NYSE: AET - News) announced support for a five-year demonstration project unveiled today by U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Mike Leavitt. The goal of the project is to encourage small to medium-sized physician practices to adopt electronic health records (EHR), by offering bonuses to practices that develop certified EHRs for their patients as a way to improve care quality and reduce medical errors.
"This initiative is in line with Aetna’s strategy to provide members and their doctors with the best real-time information to make health care decisions,” said Ronald A. Williams, chairman and CEO of Aetna. “Health information technology, coupled with evidence-based medicine, is the future of improved care quality because it will mean fewer errors, improved patient safety and better doctor/patient communications. Surprisingly, a study conducted late last year shows that only about a quarter of primary care doctors in the U.S. and Canada use EHRs. Americans should have access to a secure, interoperable health system that provides administrative and confidential medical information, and the initiative announced today by Secretary Leavitt is a positive step.”