Following the failure of the congressional supercommittee to agree upon a package of deficit-reducing measures and the resulting budget sequestration, some in the medical community have expressed concern that this may impact government programs encouraging adoption of EHRs. But one expert says this is unlikely.

Under the Budget Control Act, the inability of the supercommittee to agree upon adequate savings triggered automatic cuts. As part of this, Medicare will face an across-the-board reduction of up to 2 percent starting in 2013. Could this affect the meaningful use incentive program?

Dave Roberts, the vice president for government relations at HIMSS thinks not. He wrote in Government Health IT that EHR programs have benefitted from bipartisan support from the beginning. It was President George W. Bush that initially put the nation on the path toward a networked healthcare system.

The law does not require reductions in any specific areas of Medicare spending. Therefore, Roberts wrote that he believes lawmakers will protect funding for the meaningful use program, which is widely recognized as critically important, regardless of a person's political persuasion.