Texas' potential for health e-records incentives set at $2.37 billion
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A California firm that works with medical and health firms to make the switch to electronic health records says the incentives being offered by the federal government as part of last year’s Recovery Act could bring as much as $4 billion into some states.
The company researched the issue and, based on the number of eligible medical providers, issued its estimates of state electronic health record incentive potential for every state. Texas ranked fourth on the list, with an incentive potential of $2.37 billion. Texas trailed California, which was listed with the highest incentive potential of $4.6 billion. New York was second with a potential of $3.52 billion while Florida was ranked third with an incentive potential of $2.39 billion. The remaining states in the top 10 include Pennsylvania at $1.84 billion, Illinois at $1.52 billion, Ohio with $1.44 billion, Massachusetts at $1.36 billion, New Jersey with a potential $1.27 billion and Michigan at $1.25 billion.
While the result of the incentives is expected to create a nationwide system of e-records to make health care safer and less expensive, it is also leading to a dramatic increase in the number of vendors in the health IT industry. It is an industry that is growing and that now encompasses everything from designers of specialized software to computer hardware manufacturers to health IT specialists and technology companies.
