How health plans, health systems, and others in the private sector can stimulate 'meaningful use'

Provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act authorize incentive payments to hospitals and clinicians who become "meaningful users" of health information technology (IT). We argue that various private-sector entities--commercial payers, employers, consumer groups, health care ratings organizations, large provider organizations, and regulatory bodies--can further accelerate health IT adoption by implementing strategies that are complementary to the Medicare and Medicaid incentive programs. This paper describes these strategies and potential approaches to implementation.