• Adoption Incentives
• CAFP Activities
• Technology Resources

Adoption Incentives
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) was signed into law in February 2009.  ARRA, also known as the stimulus bill made significant investments in health information technology.

Beginning in 2011, all community-based physicians will be eligible to receive incentives to help pay for electronic medical record (EMR) implementation.  Incentives ranging from $40,000 to $65,000 will be in the form of increased payment through either Medicare or Medi-Cal.  In order to receive incentives, physicians will have to meet "meaningful use" standards. These standards are still being developed; you can submit comments to the Federal government until March 15, 2010.

In order to assist practices in this process, the federal government is in the process of funding a series of Regional Extension Centers (RECs). The Academy has been very active in the development of the RECs in California.  The State has consolidated information about HIT activities, including those related to health information exchange, patient engagement, and others.   

Resources:  

• Meaningful Use: EHR Implementation and Adoption Incentives (February 2010)
• TransforMED and AMA Frequently Asked Questions on meeting proposed Meaningful Use requirements
• Download a copy of Federal Stimulus Bill: Implications for Family Physicians
  (CAFP Board of Directors Presentation, July 2009)
  
• CAFP letter of support to the Office of the National Coordinator regarding REC applications
• CAFP letter to the CA Health & Human Services Agency outlining CAFP REC priorities
• ARRA Funding Opportunities

CAFP Activities

CAFP is a member of CALeRX, the state e-prescribing task force. CAFP also serves on the advisory committee for the California HealthCare Foundation's Small Practice eDesign project.  Its goal is to develop a prototype community infrastructure and tools that support the adoption, integration, and meaningful use of EHRs for small practices.

The Academy continues involvement in state REC workgroup activities and is collaborating with a number of key stakeholders.

For more information on CAFP's involvement in health information technology activities, please contact Director of Health Policy Sandra Newman at snewman@familydocs.org.

Technology Resources

General Technology Resources:

• AAFP's Center for Health Information Technology - CHIT offers resources including an EHR assessment, product reviews, AAFP member discounts, tutorials, and other resources.
• Through work on their DOQ-IT program, Lumetra has developed including an overview of e-Prescribing, EHR readiness assessment, and telehealth.
• The California Health Care Foundation offers reports on application software providers, clinical data standards and quality improvement, and ELINCS, a nationally recognized standard for laboratory results.
• The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has a national HIT resource center with information on ambulatory EHR time and motion tools, computerized provider order entry systems, e-prescribing, and more.

Electronic Health Records:

• The Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology is a certification body for EHRs, and provides a list of products that meet their criteria.
• AAFP's Center for Health IT is the focal point of the AAFP's technical expertise, advocacy, research, and member services associated with medical office automation and computerization.

Patient Registry Systems:

• 2006 Family Practice Management article: Using a Simple Patient Registry to Improve Your Chronic Disease Care.
• The California Health Care Foundation has made available a comparison of EHRs and disease registries.
• The Institute for Healthcare Improvement has information on both electronic and paper registry systems.
• The Chronic Disease Electronic Management System, or CDEMS, is a free electronic registry tool.