More than half of all doctors now get Medicare or Medicaid incentive payments for using electronic health records, according to a report federal officials released last week. But Republicans say medical professionals should not just use the records in their own offices but also should exchange them with other providers.

Republican lawmakers, backed by a business and insurance company alliance known as the Health IT Now Coalition, have been pushing the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in recent months to end Medicare and Medicaid IT bonus payments for providers who do not share electronic medical data with other providers.

The response from HHS officials has been to point to the progress that has been made since the Medicare and Medicaid incentive payments for providers that adopt electronic records was included in the 2009 stimulus law (PL 111-5).

Find out how the HHS exceeded its goal by reading the full article here.