Wednesday, April 16, 2025
4/16/2025
New York City Regional Extension Center - In 2005 the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (NYC DOHMH) created the Primary Care Information Project (PCIP), the nation???s largest community electronic health record (EHR) implementation project in 2005. Since then, PCIP has assisted nearly 1,600 primary care providers in implementing prevention-focused EHRs at 275 practices in NYC serving a high volume of Medicaid and uninsured patients. Despite the progress PCIP has made in expanding EHR use, an estimated 2,400 priority primary care providers still use paper records, and 5,200 priority primary care providers will need significant support to meet the Meaningful Use criteria for 2014. To reach a larger provider community across New York City???s five boroughs and support the federal goal of universal EHR adoption, the Fund for Public Health in New York (FPHNY) is requesting $22,754,885 for four years to establish the NYC Regional Extension Center (NYC REC), which will guide priority primary care providers through EHR implementation to meet the federal Meaningful Use requirements. The NYC Extension Center will build on PCIP???s experience supporting providers at all stages including vendor selection, implementation, and using the system to improve the quality of care. NYC REC will reach providers across a multitude of sites including community health centers, outpatient clinics, small practices, correctional facilities and homeless mobile vans. FPHNY, a non-profit that works closely with DOHMH to implement innovative projects, will oversee the financial operations of NYC REC while the daily operations will continue to be run by, and be a part of, PCIP. This structure will permit the Extension Center to benefit from the work of the PCIP public-health focused (DOHMH-funded) efforts aimed at leveraging robust Health Information Exchange to reduce disparities, improve public health alerts, increase care coordination and reorient physician payment toward prevention. Recognizing the need to span across the fragmented health care system, NYC REC will continue to expand the relationships established by PCIP with national, regional and local stakeholders. These include New York State Department of Health, New York eHealth Collaborative, medical and professional societies, health plans, hospitals, federally funded healthcare providers, and patient advocacy groups. These relationships will be critical in designing and promoting NYC REC???s programs and services. PCIP has already been involved in many partnerships with stakeholders identified by this Extension Center FOA, and will continue to collaborate widely. In addition to significant experience with HIT implementation, PCIP staff has expertise guiding practices to Patient Centered Medical Home designation, conducting quality improvement training, and developing pay-for-quality programs. PCIP was heavily involved in conceptualizing and drafting the Meaningful Use criteria, and are well-versed in those tenants. Based on PCIP???s four years of experience in helping providers embrace health IT, NYC REC will be an immediate resource for other extension centers nationwide. The NYC Extension Center will continue to identify ways for HIT to transform care as opposed to merely digitizing medicine in its current form.
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).