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A trio of advocacy groups--including the AARP, the Service Employees International Union and the Business Roundtable--have begun a lobbying effort encouraging Congress to push EMR adoption. In a joint statement, the groups cited a 2005 study by RAND which estimated that the health system would save as much $165 billion if providers adopted health IT more broadly. The groups have asked legislators to pass legislation immediately which would give all Americans access to secure EMRs. The …

A new federal bill is now under consideration which would help physician practices afford the cost of implementing more sophisticated health IT tools. Interestingly, the bill was shaped not solely by Congressional staffers, but also by direct input from a vendor, Carrollton, GA-based Greenway Medical Technologies, which makes software integrating EMR and practice management functions. The bill, the National Health Information Incentive Act, would offer physicians grants, loans and tax …

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced last week that it will offer an additional $128 million for a mix of telemedicine grant and loan funding for rural healthcare organizations, along with support for distance learning. To date, the USDA has invested more than $166 million in its Distance Learning and Telemedicine program over the past five years, serving 2,226 healthcare organizations. Most of the funding comes in the form of comparatively modest sums, including, for …