What's the catch? With tech freebies, maybe there isn't one

Physicians might be skeptical of health plans offering them free or discounted software. But the plans -- and some doctors themselves -- say accepting their offers isn't such a bad idea after all.

By Tyler Chin, AMNews staff. Dec. 12, 2005.

It's a long-held truism that you should be cautious of your enemy bearing gifts. Given the contentious relations between many physicians and health plans, physicians would be excused in wondering why health plans are offering, sometimes at no cost to doctors, technology such as electronic prescribing, payer-based electronic records and electronic medical records systems.

So far, it appears that health plans are coming in peace. Of course, they're offering free or discounted technology to physicians because the plans figure it will save them money. But in many cases, all they're asking in return is that the physicians use the technology they're given.

For example, when Highmark and Independence Blue Cross last September separately announced programs under which they will offer e-prescribing technology to doctors in Pennsylvania, the state's medical society saw them, in this case, as more friend than foe.

"We're glad to see that they are taking an active part in order to help their networks come up to speed [with electronic records]," said Peter Achor, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania Medical Society, which in May co-founded an initiative to encourage physician adoption of electronic records. "This technology is critical for patient safety and for improving work processes and helping doctors treat their patients better," Achor said.

For many years, technology consultants have said that for information technology to take hold in practices, a large outside organization -- such as a health plan -- would have to kick in money toward the systems.