ARRA

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), signed by President Barack Obama on February 17, 2009, allocates approximately $36 billion to health information technology (IT) projects. ARRA includes two major components that have an impact on health IT.

Medicare and Medicaid incentives ($34 billion) – The incentives and penalties provided through Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement are designed to help physicians and hospitals acquire electronic health record (EHR) technology. In order to receive these new and significant incentives, physicians and hospitals will have to prove “meaningful use” of their “certified” EHRs. The criteria for “meaningful use” and “certified” EHRs will be established by the end of 2009.
Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act ($2 billion) – The HITECH Act formally establishes the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC). The ONC will use these funds to promote a nationwide health IT infrastructure, to facilitate the creation and dissemination of health IT policies and standards, and to create regional health IT extension centers (RHITECs). RHITECs will support physicians and hospitals in the implementation and adoption of health information technology.

Under ARRA, the Health IT Policy Committee will provide recommendations to the Office of the National Coordinator on a policy framework for the development and adoption of a nationwide health information infrastructure. Please visit the website for the HIT Policy Committee to follow their progress.

ARRA has generated a tremendous amount of analysis from a variety of perspectives. You can find links to resources on the following pages:

Statutes and Implementation Plans provides links to the ARRA statutory and implementation documents themselves.
Resources catalogs links to analyses of ARRA from a variety of organizations.

Please contact us if you have questions about or suggestions for other ARRA links that you have found useful.