Big Love For Big Hospitals

Federal lawmakers have introduced legislation that would increase by millions of dollars each the amount of meaningful use incentive funds that multicampus hospitals could receive.

The 2010 Electronic Health Record Incentives for Multi-Campus Hospitals Act would amend the HITECH Act, which for purposes of incentive fund eligibility treats multicampus hospitals as single entities.

"This legislation will ensure that the incentives better address the costs faced by multi-campus hospitals to promote adoption of health IT systems at these facilities," said Rep. Pete Stark, D-Calif., chairman of the Ways and Means Health Subcommittee, whose office announced the legislation. The bill's cosponsors are Rep. Zack Space, D-Ohio; Frank Pallone, Jr., D-N.J., chairman of the Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee; and Rep. Michael Burgess, R-Texas.

Critics of the provision, notably the American Hospital Association and the American Medical Association, contend that the law, as currently written, unfairly penalizes multi-campus hospitals. Their size and complexity result in higher costs in implementing health IT and greater challenges meeting the government's meaningful use standards for electronic health records.

The AHA, in a letter to Rep. Space, applauded "incentives for hospitals to move further and faster in using electronic health records technology to improve all aspects of care delivery."

The bill would provide multicampus a choice in how they receive extra payments, reports Modern Healthcare, which noted that the House has adjourned until Sept. 14, and "it isn't known when any action will take place on the legislation, which has 31 co-sponsors."