To help providers and their practices understand the procedures and goals of the HITECH Act, MPS has broken down the legislation in this quick summary:

Advancements in technology have given the health care industry the ability to digitize and index the medical records of every single person in the country through EHR. Approximately 40% of doctors have already adopted a EHR, but only 1/2 of the 40% are using EHR to its fullest and truly realizing EHR's potential value through improvements in decisions and patients' outcomes.

Widespread use of EHR through EMR in the United States is inevitable. Just like "teaching an old dog new tricks", the inevitability of EHR adoption does not mean easy transition. In 2009, to help providers break through the barriers of progress, Congress and the Obama administration signed into law the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH).

HITECH will provide the health care community with the resources needed to jump-start the progression of use of electronic health records in the United States. Through HITECH, clinicians across America will be rewarded for EHR adoption and "meaningful use" with incentive payments totaling as much as $44,000 (through Medicare) and $63,750 (through Medicaid) per provider over a 5 year period.