Banks to offer low-interest loans to doctors for EHR purchases

As part of a federal effort to increase adoption of electronic health records, three Midwest banks have begun offering low-interest loans to Ohio primary care doctors for purchasing EHR systems (Source: “Ohio doctors eligible for low-interest loans in federal EHR push,” Medcity News, Dec. 1, 2010).

“Huntington Bank and Fifth Third Bank in Ohio, and U.S. Bank in Minnesota, will offer physicians loans for the upfront money needed to create the technology infrastructure in their practices at an affordable rate,” according to a press release from the Ohio Health Information Partnership.  “In turn, these physicians will be able to take advantage of federal stimulus money and receive incentives to repay those loans, once they follow federal guidelines in their use of these health records.”

OHIP, a nonprofit public-private partnership, has received about $43 million in federal stimulus funds to help doctors set up EHR systems and establishment of health information exchange networks. About $20 billion of federal stimulus money has been set aside for promotion of EHR adoption nationwide.