Clicking For Cash

“In place of consumers ruling their healthcare in the US, well-positioned, giant stakeholders have persuaded lawmakers to offer physicians bonus money (that will later be taken away), not for curing patients, but for using digital records “in a meaningful manner.”  It’s called Clicking for Cash.”

“….While it’s impossible to know precisely why doctors and hospitals moved to better-paying codes in recent years, it’s likely that the trend in part reflects ‘upcoding,’ — the practice of charging for more extensive and costly services than delivered…”

Meaningful Use is predictably costly – By Darrell Pruitt, DDS

In place of consumers ruling their healthcare in the US, well-positioned, giant stakeholders have persuaded lawmakers to offer physicians bonus money (that will later be taken away), not for curing patients, but for using digital records “in a meaningful manner.”  It’s called Clicking for Cash.  Since the rules are made up along the way, they change like the weather… I wrote that on April 10, 2009. As anyone can see, I told you so.

Fred Schulte has been covering Meaningful Use and ARRA stimulus money since 2009 when he was hired by the Huffington Post to investigate the Obama administration’s plan to persuade doctors and hospitals to convert to EHRs by throwing taxpayers’ $30 billion up in the air.

Less than two weeks ago, “Race to electronic health records may come with a price,” by Schulte was posted on the Association of Health Care Journalists (AHCJ) website.

http://healthjournalism.org/resources-articles-details.php?id=249#.UMYdnINZVyQ

Schulte introduces the investigation by describing a giddy, bi-partisan HIT-friendly atmosphere in the early days of the Obama administration when his top health care adviser, the former Democratic Sen. Tom Daschle, joined former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich in public forums promising that the conversion of healthcare from paper to digital will save lives and money. “It was about the only thing they could agree on.” As it turns out, they were bipartisan-wrong on both counts.

Schulte adds, “But amid all the enthusiasm, politicians and policy makers paid little attention to the implications of a gold rush sparked when billions of taxpayers’ dollars suddenly came up for grabs. Hundreds of medical technology companies scrambled to sell digital systems — often by promising doctors and hospitals they could boost revenues by billing higher rates to Medicare and other health insurers.” The problem is, the medical technology companies delivered on their promises and the politicians didn’t.

The 3-part investigative series by Schulte and David Donald is posted on The Center for Public Integrity website, and reveals that providers increasingly billed Medicare for more complex and costly health care over the past decade than previously, adding $11 billion or more to their fees, “despite little evidence that elderly patients required more treatment.”

http://www.publicintegrity.org/health/medicare/cracking-codes

“While it’s impossible to know precisely why doctors and hospitals moved to better-paying codes in recent years, it’s likely that the trend in part reflects ‘upcoding,’ — the practice of charging for more extensive and costly services than delivered, according to Medicare experts, analysis of the data and a review of government audits.

And Medicare regulators worry that the coding levels may be accelerating in part because of increased use of electronic health records, which make it easy to create detailed patient files with just a few mouse clicks.” (Clicking for cash).

Schulte concludes the AHCJ article: “It’s hard to say at this point whether the strong political support for electronic health records will erode. But as officials struggle to slash soaring Medicare costs, the program may face new pressure to demonstrate it can achieve its goals. That seems fair enough.”

Perhaps ADA President Dr. Robert Faiella should reconsider his recent support for Meaningful Use requirements in dentistry. What do you think?