The Moscow Villager - Posted Jan 12, 2012

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) announced recently that the network of 62 Health IT Regional Extension Centers (RECs) achieved one of its first major milestones – gaining commitments from 100,000 primary care providers (PCPs) to adopt electronic health records in a meaningful way.

As part of this network of RECs, the Pennsylvania Regional Extension & Assistance Center for Health IT - East (PA REACH East) enrolled 2,535 primary care providers in eastern Pennsylvania. Representing roughly one-third of all PCPs in the U.S., these 100,000 providers are building the foundation of a fully-electronic health care system.

“This is an enormous milestone for America’s health care providers,” said Farzad Mostashari, MD, ScM, national coordinator for health information technology at ONC. "EHR-enabled providers are taking the first steps in transforming health care in the U.S., enhancing the safety and quality of care for patients. We would not have been able to accomplish this without the hard work of regional extension centers across the country.”

Primary care providers are the foundation of America’s health care system as they are often the patient’s first point of contact for health care and can be the center of the patient’s care network.

EHR-enabled PCPs allow clinicians to share more accurate, complete information and better coordinate patient care across specialists, hospitals and other health care providers.

As EHR technologies become more widely adopted by providers and reach their full potential, patients will be able to access their own health information and become empowered partners in their medical care.

Since April 2010, PA REACH East has been using its broad, Health IT expertise to help PCPs, who face unique and complex challenges with EHR adoption, make a smooth transition to their EHR goals.

Because all practices are different, PA REACH East gears its support to meet each practice’s specific needs – from identifying financial resources to negotiating with EHR vendors to redesigning office workflow.

“We have witnessed, firsthand, providers making significant strides in switching to an electronically-enabled practice,” said Anita Somplasky, PA REACH Executive Director. “The 2,535 providers who have partnered with our REC are leading the way for the Pennsylvania medical community in meeting the meaningful use EHR criteria, ultimately leading to improved patient health care.”

Throughout the country, RECs are working with providers in different practice settings to ensure widespread adoption of electronic health records. While RECs mainly assist primary care providers, they also work with specialists such as cardiologists. The regional extension centers leverage their broad health IT experience to provide assistance to clinicians working in practices of various sizes and in both urban and rural settings.

As part of its EHR Incentives Program, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services defined meaningful use criteria to ensure providers use a certified EHR system to: