Federal health information technology planners would like to see "private payers" – health insurers – help encourage doctors and hospitals to make more use of electronic health record (EHR) systems.
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) mentions private payers several times in the new Federal Health IT Strategic Plan: 2011-2015.
The ONC developed to plan to implement health information technology initiatives included in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (PPACA), and also in earlier acts, such as the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH) of 2009.
The underlying goal is to make the U.S. health care much more efficient by 2015.
Officials are hoping they can accomplish that by increasing the percentage of doctors who use standardized EHR systems.
Today, only 25% of U.S. physician offices and 15% of U.S. hospitals make much use of standardized EHR systems.