Electronic Medical Records Stimulus

In 2009 the United States Congress passed "The HITECH Act", which is part of the economic stimulus package American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). The ARRA stimulus plan was initiated by President Obama, and designed to stimulate the economy and increase consumer spending during the recent recession.

As part of the $787 billion stimulus package, $32 billion was allocated to upgrading the infrastructure of the healthcare and medical industries. $10 billion is to be used for the construction of National Institutes of Health facilities for health research. And $22 billion is to be used for upgrading health care IT systems, namely to assist in the upgrading of personal medical information to a standardized “electronic medical records” system, also referred to as EMR or electronic health records (EHR).

View doctor incentive program details regarding incentives to doctors, as part of this stimulus package.

Resources:

US Recovery Act Fund Programs
US Department of Health & Human Services