Insurance Company Prompts Computerization In Hospitals

Liz Perry for Leaders in Healthcare – Feb. 22, 2008

According to the Boston Business Journal, in years to come Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts plans to launch a plan in which hospitals that use paper records will lose out under a new requirement. However, health care providers that do invest in computerized technology for doctors to record prescriptions and other care orders stand to win big.

Beginning in 2013, BCBSMS will offer financial incentives to hospitals that install and use computerized physician order-entry systems. This will computerize prescriptions and other orders doctors may issue for patient care. This new technology will become a required threshold for participating in the insurer's quality and incentive programs.

Last year, BCBSMA paid out $104 million to 64 hospitals that invested in technology improvements. Massachusetts hospitals will large sums of money if they do not comply with the computerization. This will also require hiring staff to manage the new systems, which could provide growing opportunities for those with both healthcare and technology expertise. This will ring especially true if the trend toward monetary benefits for computerization spread beyond Massachusetts.