Analysis Finds HIT Veterans Receiving HITECH Incentives

Federal officials have been quick to note the rising number of providers signing up for HITECH incentives, but a recent analysis suggests they may want to pay a little more attention to making sure the program is working the way it was intended.

Conducted on behalf of the Center for Public Integrity, the analysis found, in looking at the HITECH payments already made, “about half of the first batch of federal dollars meant to encourage doctors and hospitals to switch to electronic records went to providers who were converts to the technology long before the stimulus program was announced.”

What ensues in the article is an interesting debate between those who aren’t concerned that not all incentive recipients are HIT neophytes, and those who consider this an example of programmatic mismanagement...