Show Us the Money: The First Meaningful Use Payouts Roll Out

I mean, the fact that they have 400-some certified products now is a clue that the capabilities of the products weren’t a problem, right? And we know what it takes to make an EHR work, and there are lots of benefits, and lots of choices, and you can pick a product that meets your needs and wants, and I think this is a good thing, because a lot of people were saying, we’ll never be able to achieve stage 1. And now, people are saying, we’ll never be able to achieve stage 2, of course!

And if the government hadn’t created this program, this wouldn’t be happening now, right?
Exactly. And it’s an incentive program. And though it may cost more to implement than they’ll get back in the incentive money, it still is an incentive.

And in the case of the Childs Clinic, whose office manager I interviewed, that office manager said they’ve spent $100,000 on their EHR, but the $44,000 really made a difference; otherwise, they wouldn’t have done this. So the bottom line is, Chicken Little is wrong, and the sky isn’t falling?
Right, and this is a doable transition. And really, this is becoming the standard of practice and patients are expecting this, and if you do have a medical error that could have been prevented had you had an EHR, you’re not in a very good position legally. So you’re either going to put in your own EHR or have someone do it for you, or retire. And some are going to choose to retire, I’m sure.

Any other thoughts?
I think it is another validation, not only that it’s real and the money’s coming, but that it’s doable. And people who thought that the money wasn’t going to be there, should now have an extra incentive to do this, because if you think the program’s going to go away because they might run out of money, get in now and get the money, right? And the guys who started in 2011, if they can go through 2013 on stage 1, they’ll get 90 percent of their money. So you’ll miss 10 percent of the money if you wait until 2014. So there are a lot of reasons to get your money now. And if you get your money from stage 1, you’ll have more money later on.