IRVINE, Calif., Feb. 24, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Abraxas Medical Solutions, Inc., a developer of state of the art Electronic Health Record (EHR) software solution, commented on a portion of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the U.S. Government's stimulus package (the "Stimulus Package"), that pertains to healthcare IT.
Estimates released by the Congressional Budget Office on February 13, project that over $20 billion will be spent on financial incentives for doctors who become meaningful users of a certified EHR solution by 2015. Physicians who implement a solution and become meaningful users between 2010 and 2012 will be eligible for $44,000 each in incentive payments, and physicians who become meaningful users between 2012 and 2014 will be eligible for lower payments. Physicians who have not become meaningful users by 2014 will not qualify for any payments.
"We believe the portion of the Stimulus Package that offers incentives to users for utilizing a certified EHR solution has tremendous potential to rapidly increase the user base of EHR solutions and improve the quality of care and efficiency of our healthcare system. While many medical professionals recognize the advantages that EHR solutions offer their businesses and patients, the market's adoption of these solutions has been slow," stated Gil Allon, Chairman of the Board of Abraxas Medical Solutions. "We are pleased that the Stimulus Package requires professionals to be meaningful users of an EHR solution within the next five years and that the solutions must be certified. We believe that these requirements will ensure that our health system will receive the biggest gains in efficiency through guaranteed interoperability and system use."
"The timing of this Stimulus Package is especially fortunate for Abraxas Medical Solutions, as we offer our CCHIT Certified(r) 2006 Ambulatory EHR, (Abraxas EMR version 1.0.3.0), along with practice management solutions into five different medical specialties. While our solutions have been well received in the market thus far, we anticipate the Stimulus Package will create a significant increase in customer demand. With a relatively short window of opportunity to take advantage of these payments, we believe that the market will react to these deadlines by implementing solutions early, so physicians can be meaningful EHR users prior to the deadline."
About Abraxas Medical Solutions, Inc.
Abraxas Medical Solutions, Inc. (Abraxas) located in Irvine, California, focuses on developing and marketing electronic medical records and practice management software to medical offices of different specialties nationwide. Abraxas Medical Solution's EHR software, Abraxas EMR Version 1.0.3.0, is a CCHIT Certified(r) 2006 Ambulatory EHR. Abraxas is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ophthalmic Imaging Systems (OIS).