Business
AMA advocates for help with EMRs
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted July 3, 2006
The AMA House of Delegates on June 13 approved a resolution directing the Association to advocate for and support initiatives to minimize the financial cost to physician practices of buying and maintaining electronic medical records systems.
The original resolution asked the AMA to work with appropriate agencies to provide a tax credit of up to $50,000 per physician over three years to help doctors adopt EMRs. The resolution was amended after several delegates who supported the resolution's intent questioned whether a tax credit was the appropriate funding vehicle and whether $50,000 would be enough to cover the cost of the technology.
The EMR tax credit resolution was discussed jointly with two other resolutions asking the AMA to approve policies opposing any unfunded government mandate for the use of EMRs and use of these systems for reimbursement for medical care or pay-for-performance programs. Those resolutions were folded into the funding resolution that passed.
Separately, the house adopted a resolution directing the AMA to develop policy regarding the use, patient control and privacy of patient information in an EMR system.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2006/07/03/bibf0703.htm.
