Friday, November 22, 2024
11/22/2024
Two hundred and twenty-five of Indiana???s 6,500 priority-primary care providers have an Electronic Health Record (EHR) system meeting the anticipated 2011 Meaningful Use criteria. As part of Purdue???s statewide Extension Program, the proposed Indiana Health Information Technology Extension Center (I-HITEC) is well-positioned to immediately begin achieving its two-year target of assisting 2,200 providers achieve the current and future Meaningful Use criteria. I-HITEC???s mission is: To advance the adoption and Meaningful Use of electronic health records among Indiana primary care providers, with an emphasis upon serving small-group practices or practices that treat rural, uninsured, underinsured, underserved or other at-risk populations. I-HITEC already has an experienced staff, statewide presence, and commitment from 281 healthcare providers and three vendors interested in working with I-HITEC to achieve Meaningful Use. In addition, I-HITEC has 10 committed partners, including: (i) Health Care Excel, which fulfilled a CMS contract to successfully move 30 practices to full implementation of an EHR system; (ii) the Lugar Center for Rural Health, which is dedicated to advancing rural health and has 300 providers on paperless systems; and (iii) Ivy Tech Community College, which is a 23-campus statewide system with more than 11,500 students pursuing a healthcare-related major. I-HITEC???s partners will help expedite Indiana???s EHR adoption as well as help educate future EHR users, ensuring Indiana can continue adapting to the evolving criteria of Meaningful Use. I-HITEC will strive to become a national model for accelerating the adoption of certified EHR and achieving Meaningful Use by building upon three integrated approaches. First, I-HITEC will utilize a needs-based, algorithm-driven assistance model that customizes I-HITEC???s services to directly meet the unique needs of each provider. Second, I-HITEC will promote each practice???s long-term use of its EHR by providing ???side-by-side??? service that educates the provider and/or staff during the workflow redesign and implementation process. Third, I-HITEC will simultaneously enhance its own financial sustainability as well as each practice???s EHR sustainability by offering a paid service called the ???One Stop IT Shop,??? which will enable practices to focus upon patient care rather than EHR concerns. The impact of these integrated efforts will be consistently measured by an evaluation tool developed by the I-HITEC team, enabling I-HITEC to adapt as needed. This strategy ensures Indiana medical providers will have the long-term support they need to successfully select, implement, and meaningfully use certified EHR. By 2012, more than 2,200 Indiana providers will be empowered to improve the quality of patient care and help the state become a recognized leader in transforming the nation???s use of certified EHR.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).
