HHS secretary encourages Kansas, Missouri to expand use of electronic records

KANSAS CITY, Kan. Health and Human Services secretary Mike Leavitt is encouraging health care partners in Kansas and Missouri to expand the use of electronic medical records by physicians, according to the Associated Press.

The problem is that while hospitals and larger physician groups have no trouble in paying the money to install the software, smaller physician groups have decided against it due to the high price.

Leavitt said his agency is planning a pilot project that would offer economic incentives to small- and medium-sized physician offices willing to install the systems and use them to improve patient care over five years.

But, the incentive is only $58,000 per physician and some physicians believe the price of installing the systems would be about $65,000 per physician. Doctors are therefore asking for more money in incentives in order to install the electronic medical record systems.

Mike Nelson, who will oversee the electronic medical records initiative for Health and Human Services, acknowledged that the costs are high and the government can’t change that. But he said the agency has asked insurance companies to consider offering similar incentives and many have indicated they may