If a breach occurs a healthcare organization would have to send out first-class letters to any patients who might have been affected by the breach. Electronic mail can be used if the individual agrees to receive electronic notice and such agreement has not been withdrawn. If at least ten of the first-class letters come back for a bad address, the hospital must then post a notice of the breach on its home page and offer a toll-free breach information number for 90 days (Anderson, 2010). To receive the financial incentives, eligible professionals and hospitals must achieve meaningful use of an electronic health record (EHR). In December 2009 the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released an advanced copy of a notice of proposed rulemaking defining the requirements for meaningful use, the measures and the details of how eligible providers and hospitals will be paid the incentive dollars. The requirements are substantially the same as those approved the by the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) policy committee in July of 2009. Meaningful use necessities are still grouped into three stages but the designations are no longer tied to dates. In Stage 1, the focus is on capturing data, in Stage 2 on reporting health information and tracking key clinical conditions, and in Stage 3 on improving performance and health outcomes (Update on Meaningful Use, 2010).

The stimulus law has allocated $20 billion to help provider's purchase and implements health technology, such as electronic health records (EHR) (DerGurahian, 2010).

Under the HITECH Act, the Secretary is accountable for adopting standards, implementation specifications, and certification criteria for health information technology. ONC put out a temporary final rule on those topics and also has published a proposed rule on the processes the National Coordinator would take to authorize organizations...

The HITECH Act stipulates that the Medicare EHR incentive programs provide incentive payments to eligible professionals, eligible hospitals, and critical access hospitals (CAHs) that are meaningful users of certified EHRs. Incentive payments are to be made to qualifying Medicare Advantage (MA) organizations for the meaningful use of certified EHR technology by their affiliated eligible professionals (Health Information Technology, 2010).
References

Information Memorandum. (2010). Retrieved April 3, 2010, from Web site:

http://www.ohi.ca.gov/calohi/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=2hNqHDe5ePE%3d&tabid=98

Marietta, Cynthia S. (2010). Deadline Here to Comply with HITECH Act's Restrictions on Uses,

Disclosures, and Requests for Protected Health Information. Retrieved April 3, 2010,

from Web site:

http://www.law.uh.edu/Healthlaw/perspectives/2010/%28CM%29%20HITECH.pdf

Anderson, Howard. (2010). The Essential Guide to HITECH Act. Retrieved April 3, 2010, from Healthcare Info Security Web site:

http://www.healthcareinfosecurity.com/articles.php?art_id=2053&pg=1

Update on Meaningful Use. (2010). Retrieved April 3, 2010,

http://assets1.csc.com/health_services/downloads/CSC_Update_on_Meaningful_Use.pdf

DerGurahian, Jean. (2010). HIMSS annual conference to explore meaningful use, HITECH Act.

Retrieved April 3, 2010, from Search Health IT Web site:

http://searchhealthit.techtarget.com/news/2240016662/HIMSS-annual-conference-to-explore-meaningful-use-HITECH-Act

Health Information Technology. (2010). Retrieved April 3, 2010, from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Web site: http://www.cms.gov/recovery/11_healthit.asp