Electronic Health Records (EHRs)
Dentists and their employees may have heard rumors of federal mandates requiring dentists to adopt electronic health records (EHRs), or implement "paperless" offices by 2012 (2013, 2014, etc). There is no such deadline for dentists who do not submit claims to Medicare. See the "ARRA, HITECH, and EHRs Data Sheet" below. While there is a significant and ongoing effort by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to encourage use of these systems, particularly by Medicare and Medicaid providers, it is often misunderstood and misrepresented.
It's well known that dental EHR systems are a major investment for paper-based or hybrid (paper and electronic) dental offices, requiring significant amounts of money, time, training, and adjustment to new ways of doing things in order to maximize return on investment. To help avoid unnecessary or premature and costly expenditures on dental EHR systems, the ADA has developed this data sheet for dentists and their employees to review.
