The American College of Physicians (ACP) is calling for Medicare to reimburse primary care physicians for using electronic health records and communicating with patients via e-mail and telephone, according to this article on "Government Health IT."
Medicare does not routinely reimburse phone and e-mail communications, but studies have found that they can increase the quality of care and improve physician productivity, the ACP report states.
Because mostly small medical offices have resisted using EHRs and the cost of the systems is more burdensome for them, Congress and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services could also limit the extra payment to physicians in small practice settings, the report states.
http://www.govhealthit.com/article92155-01-31-06-Web