HITREC

Regional Health IT Extension Centers (RHITEC or HITREC) help primary care clinicians install and use their electronic health record systems. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) allocated almost $600 million to establish these centers.

Health Information Technology Regional Extension Centers

A Historic Opportunity: Wedding Health Information Technology to Care Delivery Innovation and Provider Payment Reform. [1]

"Many providers, particularly small practices and 'safety net' health care providers who serve the underserved, lack the expertise and resources to purchase, install and use information technology to innovate care. HITECH provides for the creation of Regional Health IT Extension Centers, or RHITECs, that could be structured to meet this need for up to 200,000 physicians, if empowered appropriately.

"RHITECs should be created as results-oriented entities focused single-mindedly on the achievement of 'meaningful use' by client providers. They should offer the full set of services required to help health care providers achieve 'meaningful use,' including group purchasing of health IT solutions, implementation assistance, project management, vendor relations, and quality improvement. RHITECs should tailor their work to fit the unique needs of each of their communities, and should be at substantive financial risk for achieving 'meaningful use' targets in their populations of health care provider clients."

This material was published by the Center for American Progress.

Kcox 12:37, 19 November 2009 (CST)

Information on HITREC Activity in various States

Arizona

Arizona's 39-person steering committee has developed a roadmap to take Arizonans' health care out of the paper form/manila folder era into one of digital records and electronic sharing. They're calling it a "shared patient history summary," a basic up-to-date record of patients' medications, conditions they've been diagnosed with, and tests that have been done. With their patients' permission, primary-care physicians could have access to it, along with any specialists the patients see and, in case of emergency, paramedics and emergency-room personnel. For more information see: Health files to go high-tech -- State weighs electronic records plan

Delaware

Delaware Health Information Network (DHIN) project of the Delaware Health Care Commission

Mission

To facilitate the design and implementation of an integrated, statewide health data system to support the information needs of consumers, health plans, policymakers, providers, purchasers and research to improve the quality and efficiency of health care services in Delaware

Vision

Share real-time clinical information among all health care providers (office practices, hospitals, labs, diagnostic facilities, etc.) across the state to improve patient outcomes and patient-provider relationships, while reducing service duplication and the rate of increase in health care spending.

Guiding Principles

The DHIN and its partners believe that a statewide system by which clinical information can be shared among disparate providers and consumers can only succeed if it possesses analogous support among all stakeholders. Therefore, the following guiding principles are central to the DHIN:

• The network design must be inclusive of all stakeholders (patients, providers, insurers, employers, etc)
• The consumer/patient is in control of sharing his/her health information
• All users must "belong" to the network
• Patient health information remains where it originated (e.g. hospital, laboratory)
• There is collaboration and coordination among all who will utilize and benefit from the Utility

• The stakeholders have a shared vision of how the Utility will be developed, organized and administered.
• The stakeholders will communicate often in an efficient and effective manner
• Those who benefit from the network will share in its cost

Indiana

Indiana applies for grant to boost HIT delivery by:Molly Merrill from: Health IT News

Indiana Health Information Technology, Inc., formed by the state's five health information exchanges and four other state organizations, has filed an application for federal stimulus funding for a statewide health information technology program.

The effort, which is being led by BioCrossroads, a public-private collaboration that supports Indiana's investment in life sciences, seeks a four-year grant of several million dollars under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act's Cooperative Agreement Program (CAP). The grant will be used to further enhance the quality and reach of Indiana's HIT delivery system.

"To promote and advance health information technology as one of our state's true life sciences clusters, BioCrossroads assembled the coalition and orchestrated the effort to develop this extensive proposal and establish its governing organization," said David Johnson, president and CEO of BioCrossroads. "We look forward to the new organization leading the charge by facilitating the proposed plan for further connectivity and additional healthcare delivery improvements."

IHIT will promote alliances and innovation among the state's five independent exchanges: HealthBridge, HealthLINC, the Indiana Health Information Exchange (IHIE), MedWeb and the Michiana Health Information Network (MHIN), as well as the state's Family and Social Services Administration, Indiana Department of Health, Indiana Economic Development Corporation and Indiana Health Informatics Corporation.

"Indiana's leadership in life sciences spans over decades of time and is further cultivated by the state's significant advances in health information technology. By more effectively managing vital health information, we are creating synergies for the numerous providers and commercial partners in Indiana's healthcare landscape," said Mitch Roob, Indiana's secretary of commerce and chief executive officer of the Indiana Economic Development Corporation. "This important collaboration by the IHIT team leverages the best in Indiana's life sciences resources and solidifies our preeminent position in the industry."

The state will be notified of funding availability in mid-December. IHIT will then assume full responsibility, beginning as early as Jan. 15, 2010, to facilitate efforts with participating state organizations, HIEs, hospitals, physicians and the national grantors.

"With the help of operating health information exchanges, a roster of progressive hospitals and physicians complemented by innovative entrepreneurial organizations and a long history of groundbreaking HIT research at our universities, the state of Indiana is poised to continue leading the nation in healthcare IT," said Anne Murphy, secretary of the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration. "The CAP funding will help us continue this role by enhancing the existing infrastructure to positively impact healthcare at all levels."

Texas

The Texas Regional Extension Centers are among of a select group of organizations throughout the U.S. designated as having the experience and capacity necessary to assist health care providers with the task of modernizing their practices with certified EHRs. We have been selected by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) for Health Information Technology to serve providers, with a focus on primary care providers, in Texas.

Provider support throughout the EHR Implementation Process

The Texas Regional Extension Centers are a support and resource center making the implementation or upgrade of EHRs easier for providers throughout the process. Ultimately, our aim is to help increase quality of care for patients, overall productivity, and improve the quality of work/life balance for you by helping providers achieve meaningful use of EHR systems. We will not leave your practice until EHR implementation is successful.

We offer participating practices a wide range of valuable services. Some of our core service areas include:

• EHR implementation and project management
• HIT education and training
• Vendor selection & financial consultation
• Practice/workflow redesign
• Privacy and security
• Partnering with state and national health information exchange (HIE)
• Ongoing technical assistance

Our priority is helping providers understand and take advantage of the full benefits of EHRs. We provide scalable solutions that will enable providers to:

• Improve patient safety and quality of care while reducing costs associated with medical errors, duplicate tests, and administering paper records and claims
• Easily navigate the EHR vendor marketplace by having supported access to recommended certified systems
• Use EHRs in a meaningful way so that patient information is available when and where it is needed, and care is coordinated across provider teams
• Achieve EHR meaningful use objectives from the very beginning, maximizing incentives and minimizing financial and administrative burdens associated with implementing new electronic systems