One of the key elements of the Budget Control Act of 2011 is a $1.2 trillion deficit reduction bill by November 23 2011. Should the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (“Super Committee”) and Congress fail to pass a bill by December 23 2011, mandatory cuts would occur to both mandatory and discretionary spending from 2013 to 2021.

The impact on the incentive program is unknown at this point and the uncertainty may expedite the adoption of EHRs in 2011 for providers that can implement quickly and still meet 2011 meaningful use criteria.

Roberta Mullin writes an informative overview in HITECH Answers Will HITECH Act EHR Incentives Be Cut. Another good read is HIMSS’s “Super Committee” on the Deficit and Potential Implications for Health IT

John Moore of Chilmark Research wrote “A Comment, A Challenge” and shared a thought-provoking commentary from Dr Siegel on the topic of PHRs. The “Wall of Apathy” and medicine’s “Closed Society” result in keeping patients out of the loop with limited information.



Dr Siegel suggests focusing on a “shared platform that is both provider and patient accessible and readable.”



We couldn’t agree more – check out our sharing platform that enables Dr Siegel’s shared-care concept of care .