Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA) Practice Exam

Under which federal mandate were physicians incentivized to utilize "e-prescribing"?

1. Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH)

2. Quality Payment Program (QPP)

3. Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA)

4. Affordable Care Act (ACA)

The correct answer is: Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH)

The correct choice highlights the significance of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act in promoting the adoption of electronic health records, which includes the practice of e-prescribing. Enacted in 2009, HITECH established financial incentives for healthcare providers to adopt health information technology, aiming to enhance the quality of care, improve patient safety, and lower healthcare costs. Importantly, HITECH introduced a set of incentives specific to e-prescribing, providing meaningful use criteria that healthcare professionals needed to meet to qualify for these financial rewards. This federal mandate empowered physicians to implement e-prescribing systems, which are recognized for improving prescription accuracy and enhancing communication between prescribers and pharmacies. While the other options, such as the Quality Payment Program (QPP), Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA), and Affordable Care Act (ACA), also play roles in shaping healthcare practices and policies, they are not specifically focused on incentivizing e-prescribing to the extent that HITECH does. Each of these mandates has distinct objectives but does not specifically center on the promotion of electronic prescribing in the same comprehensive manner as HITECH.