Ohio Physicians Nearing Electronic Health Records Sign-Up Goal

Ohio hit 5,000 sign-ups today in the number of primary care physicians who are seeking guidance in selecting electronic health record systems the Ohio Health Information Partnership recently announced. This has helped the state move towards its goal of 80 percent of primary care physicians having electronic health records.

Dr. Brian Bachelder, a family practitioner who serves on The Partnership’s board of directors, said physicians are showing a strong commitment to patients when they choose this advanced technology.

The state’s goal is to sign up 6,000 physicians, a mark set by the Office of the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology (ONC) under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which provided $43 million in funding for health information technology initiatives in Ohio. The ONC hopes to reach 100,000 signs-ups nationally. As of late August, 87,000 physicians are participating nationwide, and Ohio is the leading state, followed by California at 3,219 and New York at 2,962.

In Ohio, seven regional partners provide regional extension services to prepare physicians’ offices for the switch from paper to electronics, assist them in selecting appropriate vendors, and guide them through a process of reaching “meaningful use” of electronic health records, which can result in financial incentives from Medicare or Medicaid for tracking specific patient information and producing reports.