Yesterday we held a great spotlight session on health IT at ACC.11 & i2 Summit. The morning session featured Mike Mirro, MD, FACC, Health IT Committee co-chair, of Fort Wayne Cardiology, Jeff Westcott, MD, FACC, of Seattle Cardiology, and Lee Goldberg, MD, FACC, of the University of Pennsylvania, discussing their experiences implementing an electronic health record (EHR) in various practice settings. The session included a Q&A with the group, along with John Windle, MD, FACC, and Jay Alexander, MD, FACC, both of whom were panelists at last year’s Health IT Spotlight Session.

In the afternoon, John Harold, MD, MACC, Ralph Brindis, MD, MPH, FACC, and I attended the 2^nd part of the Health IT Spotlight Session, which discussed the Medicare EHR Incentive Program and what providers can do to qualify. Farzad Mostashari, MD, ScM, Deputy National Coordinator for Programs and Policy at the Office of the National Coordinator, gave the keynote address. Mostashari discussed the program, which has $17.2 billion in incentives to assist providers in adopting health IT. From 2011-2015, physicians who demonstrate “meaningful use (MU)” of EHR technology and performance will be eligible for positive payment incentives. Mostashari discussed at length what exactly “meaningful use” is and how providers can demonstrate that they’re doing it. (You can view the specifics of MU on CardioSource.) He also highlighted ACC’s opportunities to lead in leveraging MU to promote the triple aim, and encouraged us to act. Carpe diem.

Following Mostashari’s keynote, ACC Health IT Committee Co-Chair James Tcheng, MD, FACC, discussed which providers and hospitals are eligible and under which program (Medicare or Medicaid) they are able to participate. Understanding if you’re eligible to participate in the Medicaid program is critical, because there are greater financial incentives available under that program than the Medicare program.

Finally, Floyd Eisenberg, MD, MPH, senior vice president for health IT at the National Quality Forum, concluded the session with a discussion of electronic quality reporting. Under the program, electronic data collection is required for quality measures, and his discussion made it clearer about how providers and hospitals can submit this data.

If you missed these great sessions, you can still learn more about health IT. At 11:15 today, there will be a Health IT Gadgets & Gizmos "Show & Tell" in the ACC Central Theater (Booth #1947).