The US government has announced grants worth around $1.2 billion to help hospitals and health care providers implement and use electronic health records (EHRs).
Announcing the grants, vice president Joe Biden said that the grants will be funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) and will be awarded on a rolling basis, with the first awards being issued in fiscal year 2010.
Biden, said: With electronic health records, we are making health care safer; we’re making it more efficient; we’re making you healthier; and we’re saving money along the way. These are four necessities we need for healthcare in the 21st-century.
The grants include $598m to establish around 70 Health Information Technology Regional Extension Centres, which will provide hospitals and clinicians with technical assistance in the use of electronic health record systems, as well as $564m to States and Qualified State Designated Entities (SDEs) to support the development of mechanisms for sharing information within an emerging nationwide system of networks.
HHS Secretary Sebelius, said: Expanding the use of electronic health records is fundamental to reforming our health care system. Electronic health records can help reduce medical errors, make health care more efficient and improve the quality of medical care for all Americans. These grants will help ensure more doctors and hospitals have the tools they need to use this critical technology.
The Department of Health and Human Services will also provide additional assistance to health care providers through the Health Information Technology Research Center (HITRC). The HITRC is expected to gather relevant information on effective practices from a wide variety of sources across the country and help the Regional Extension Centres collaborate with one another and with relevant stakeholders to identify and share best practices in EHR adoption, effective use, and provider support.
