HC Reform Update by Mark Sanna: The federal government issued new rules Tuesday that will reward doctors for the “meaningful use” of electronic health records. Doctors will have to meet 15 specific requirements, plus 5 chosen from a list of 10 objectives. For example, doctors will have to use electronic systems to record patients’ sex, race, date of birth; their height, weight and blood pressure; their medications; and their smoking behavior. A doctor can receive up to $44,000 under Medicare and $63,750 under Medicaid. Starting in 2015, doctors will be subject to financial penalties if they are not using electronic health records.