A gift is not a business plan

Well, this is worth talking about. Time after time, I've heard physicians say that they don't invest in information technology because no one pays for it.

So I say pay for it. But that, by itself, is not enough.

And the folks at the Medical Informatics Weblog, say, even when docs are offered cash, they aren't biting. What's up with that?

Here are the examples paraphrased:

The Hawaii Independent Physicians Associaton offered $3,000 to any member implementing an EMR. Only two took them up on the offer and they shut the program down in less than a year. The Central Massachusetts Independent Physician Assn and Fallon Community Health Plan offered $5,000. They'll reportedly be content of up to 10 percent take advantage.

Wellpoint offered clinicians a personal digital assistant-based e-prescribing system or a desktop-based paperwork reduction system. As of October 19,000 out of 25,000 physicians in four states had taken advantage, but only 2,300 chose the e-prescribing system.

It may seem a bit glib, but offering a gift is not a business model. This all comes across as one-time without a long term or a larger vision and without ongoing support. I wonder if these organizations actually sat down with the docs and asked them?