The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT is quickly approaching a major goal it set for itself regarding getting physicians to sign up for its meaningful use incentive program, but much work remains to be done, according to a new study.

A recent article appearing in the Journal of the American Health Information Management Association indicated that 90,000 healthcare providers had signed up to receive consulting and technological assistance services from one of the ONC's Regional Extension Centers. The ONC previously set a goal of getting 100,000 professionals to sign up by the end of the year.

The numbers indicate that the agency will likely achieve this important goal. However, there is still a long way to go to reach the ultimate goal of a fully networked healthcare system. The report also showed that only about 1,000 of the 90,000 professional who signed up with an REC had actually met the meaningful use rules.

Still, the researchers wrote that they believe large numbers of providers will soon start achieving meaningful use and will begin receiving incentive payments for their use of electronic health records.