Veterans Health IT Apprenticeship

Thousands of veterans have difficulty finding meaningful employment when they leave military life. America’s wounded, injured, and service-disabled warriors are particularly vulnerable. After they have completed their military service they must undertake various types of personal recovery, adjust to civilian life and military separation while finding gainful employment. The Veterans Health IT Registered Apprenticeship Program is designed to be one pathway for these veterans to reintegrate into productive working life after military service. 

Any physician or health care entity that depends upon Medicare payments has an urgent interest in meeting the test of “meaningful use” of electronic health records (EHR). Definitions surrounding EHR implementation are expected to be finalized in early as 2010 that will allow physicians to access incentives for adoption and eventually avoid penalties associated with not providing appropriate electronic records.

At issue is how medical organizations can and should prepare now to have a workable records digitization and management systems in place in time and without losing Medicare or Medicaid compensation and to qualify for cost reimbursements. A comprehensive system can easily cost more than $40,000 per physician over 5 years for software, installation, training, and support - and that's not counting hardware or employee training to create and maintain the system. That same physician can receive up to $44,000 over 5 years under Medicare alone if they meet the qualifications for EHR use.

Other incentives such as Medicaid, stimulus grants, and federal or regional job development programs can help offset costs for medical organizations. The Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology reports that “several physician liability insurers are [even] offering premium discounts for successful implementation of certified electronic records."

For more information, visit our Veterans' Health IT Program website.