Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM) was awarded a $19.5 million grant to aid providers with the adoption, implementation, and meaningful use of Electronic Health Record systems. The funding is also intended to help build Georgia’s Health Information Technology workforce. The U.S. Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act of 2009 established a [...]

Silver Spring, Maryland – June 16, 2010 – Zane Networks (ZaneNet), Maryland’s first Candidate Management Service Organization (MSO), has selected electronic health record, personal health record and practice management vendors to help primary care p cialis price hysicians in the state qualify for healthcare IT stimulus funds. EHR vendors chosen by ZaneNet include Medical Informatics [...]

HORSHAM, Pa.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–

Helping Provide the Electronic Rx for Health Records Management School Wins Grant to Find Best Ways to Digitize Patient Data Jun. 17, 2010 Last year’s economic stimulus package paved the way for the creation of an electronic medical records (EMR) database. Now, the UT Dallas School of Management is going to play a significant role [...]

The HITECH Act establishes the Health Information Technology Extension Program (Extension Program). The Regional Extension Centers (RECs) will offer technical assistance, guidance, and information to support and accelerate health care providers’ efforts to become meaningful users of Electronic Health Records (EHRs). This list represents the final 60 awarded centers. Grantees in the second series of [...]

Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) School of Medicine has received nearly $8 million in federal stimulus money from the Ohio Health Information Partnership (OHIP), the state designated entity for health information exchange development. That funding will position the school as a regional extension center (REC), allowing it to help 1,765 healthcare providers in Lorain, Cuyahoga, [...]

The firm that has won a $26 million public relations contract from the Department of Health and Human Services for a campaign on healthcare information technology, and related privacy and security issues, stirred up controversy with some of its previous government PR efforts. New York-based Ketchum Inc., winner of the new contract, received its share [...]

OHIP is a nonprofit that was established last year by the state. It has about $43 million in federal and state funding to help accomplish two key health information technology goals. First, the organization will help set up a health information exchange (HIE), which is essentially a state-wide computer network that will allow hospitals and doctors’ offices to easily share patients’ health information. Second, OHIP will help doctors acquire, implement and learn how to use the electronic health records (EHR) systems that will be the backbone of the exchange.

Leading the effort–for now–is Amy Andres, OHIP’s chairman and the Ohio Department of Insurance’s chief of staff. Andres was likely chosen for the role because of her background in government, health and information technology. She led the pharmacy benefits management business for Chicago-based electronic prescribing company AllScripts, and held positions with CVS ProCare and IT consulting firm Sarcom. She also worked as the CIO for the Ohio Department of Education.

The HITECH Act amends Section 3012 (a) of the Public Health Service Act and establishes the Health Information Technology Extension Program (Extension Program).
The Regional Extension Centers (RECs) will offer technical assistance, guidance, and information to support and accelerate health care providers’ efforts to become meaningful users of Electronic Health Records (EHRs). This list represents the final 60 awarded centers.

L.A. Care Health Plan, the nation’s largest public health plan, announced today that the organization has received a $15.6 million federal grant to establish the Health Information Technology Regional Extension Center (REC), called HITEC-LA, that will help doctors in L.A. County adopt and use Electronic Health Records (EHRs) in a meaningful way. HITEC-LA will be the sole REC in L.A. County, under the terms of the grant. The grant was awarded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services through the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH Act), of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

The Dakota State University Center for the Advancement of Health Information Technology has been awarded nearly $5.7 million and has been selected as one of 28 Health Information Technology Regional Extension Centers in the nation.

The regional centers were named by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as part of a $2 billion effort outlined in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. That effort hopes to achieve widespread, meaningful use of health information technology and provide the use of an electronic health record by every person by the year 2014.
DSU President Doug Knowlton said the Madison university is excited about this award and the work the center will be doing.

New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) will receive more than $23 million of the $2 billion allocated by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to achieve widespread meaningful use of health IT and facilitate use of an electronic health record (EHR) by every person by the year 2014. The newborn New Jersey Health Information Technology Extension Center (NJ-HITEC) initiative proposed by NJIT Senior Vice President for Research and Development Donald H. Sebastian, PhD, principal investigator, will assist New Jersey’s health care providers in their significant use of health information technology through outreach, consultation and user support for the state’s primary care providers serving at-risk population centers.

On February 17, 2009, the President signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) which included the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH Act). The HITECH Act includes provisions to promote meaningful use of health information technology to improve the quality and value of American health care.

The HITECH Act authorizes incentive payments for eligible Medicare and Medicaid providers’ that demonstrate meaningful use of certified electronic health record (EHR) technology.

In 2015, providers are expected to have adopted and be actively utilizing an EHR in compliance with the “meaningful use” definition or they will be subject to financial penalties under Medicare.

The HITECH Act of 2009 presents primary care providers with a unique opportunity to improve the quality of care through health information technology. While it overcomes the financial hurdle that many providers face the HITECH Act in itself does not address the heart of the issue which is a lack of understanding and fear of electronic systems amongst a providers.

The University of Central Florida’s College of Medicine has been awarded more than $7 million to build a regional electronic medical records system that promises to make health care more efficient and less costly.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced April 6ththat UCF will receive nearly $7.7 million, as one of 28 nonprofits awarded a total of $267 million to establish Health Information Technology Regional Extension Centers. The University of South Florida was awarded $5.8 million and The Community Health Centers Alliance in St. Petersburg will receive $10.9 million.

Health information technology (HIT) holds promise to better coordinate patient care, reduce costs, improve quality – and daily life for physician practices. That’s the idea behind development of a variety of federal HIT grants under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and Indiana is seeing a flow of those dollars. To date three rounds of grant funding have sent funds to Indiana.