The federal government is taking a measured approach to defining EMR standards, which may prove to be a good idea in the long run since systems must be interoperable, secure, and effective, providing a "meaningful use" of information technology.

"That 'meaningful use' definition will actually drive quality improvement in the health care system," Wanchoo told DOTmed News. "We have the confidence that our products will do it now and that is why we are providing the warranty, saying we will keep up with the certification criteria. We have already demonstrated through the use of our records that we can actually drive quality and lower costs. We think we line up with the [ARRA] program very well."


By implementing EMR now, health care providers can gather evidence to demonstrate their qualification for federal dollars as soon as they become available.

"Customers will hear of the [Stimulus Simplicity] program, take an interest, and potentially start to implement EMR this year and get ready to demonstrate a year's worth of meaningful use so they could be an early recipient of the stimulus dollars that are coming down," he said.

The financing is part of GE's healthymagination initiative, a $6 billion commitment to improve access, affordability and quality of healthcare. Under healthymagination (http://www.healthymagination.com/), GE supports the expanded use of healthcare IT to speed communications, while limiting variation and controlling costs. By accelerating EMR and Health Information Exchange (HIE) adoption, GE expects to help remove $28 billion in cost from the health system while improving access to better and more affordable care.

Read More About It:

Read a rural health provider example and more details about Stimulus Simplicity in DOTmed's Press Room:
https://www.dotmed.com/news/story/9355/

Read more about GE's healthymagination program:
https://www.dotmed.com/news/story/9023/

Read a report on rural health care in the July 2009 issue of DOTmed Business News.

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