IT Center Achieves Critical Mass

The Massachusetts Regional Extension Center is first in the nation to meet its goal for enrolling health-care providers that seek assistance in achieving "meaningful use" of electronic health records.

The REC sought to recruit 2,500 providers to adopt and achieve meaningful use of EHRs, Mat Kendall and Fadesola Adetosoye reported this week in the Health IT Buzz blog, managed by the federal Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT. The goal was based on the number of priority primary care providers in the state, including medical practices, community and rural health centers, public and critical-access hospitals and practices serving low-income patients.

Now the REC will help the enrolled providers select qualified EHR vendors, implement the health IT systems and achieve federal standards for meaningful use of the systems. If providers follow the roadmap set out for them by the REC, it guarantees that their EHRs will meet meaningful-use standards -- and potentially qualify for incentive payments through the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Both CMS and ONC are part of the Health and Human Services Department.

The Massachusetts REC had a head start in recruiting providers, according to the blog. Before April 2010 it was known as the Massachusetts eHealth Institute (MeHI), which had worked with hospitals and medical practices since 2003 to implement health IT initiatives.

"We take a lot of the guesswork out for the small provider who has no one to turn to," says Bethany Gilboard, director of health technologies for MeHI. "That's the beauty and value of the Regional Extension Center."

Provider recruitment continues in Massachusetts and by regional extension centers around the country.