ONC Finds Regional Extension Centers Help Boost EHR Adoption
By Christine Kern, contributing writer
2014 saw 75 percent of doctors and almost all hospitals using certified EHRs.
The Regional Extension Center (REC) Program helps boost HER adoption, according to a report conducted by The American Institutes of Research for the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT. The124-page report also found 2014 saw almost all hospitals and 75 percent of doctors using certified EHRs.
RECs are authorized and funded under the HITECH Act of 2009 and support providers in solo and small primary care practices, those in practices serving a large proportion of Medicaid and uninsured patients, community health centers, rural health clinics, and critical access hospitals. The program also offers resources to aid providers as they select and implement certified health IT products, meet federal meaningful use (MU) requirements, and assist workflow design.
The report assesses the role of REC since its implementation, stating that ONC awarded 62 cooperative agreements to 60 local organizations to establish and operate RECs, and more than $700 million was invested in the REC program.
Among the findings of the report was the fact 68 percent of eligible professionals who received incentive payments under Stage 1 of the MU program were assisted by RECs, compared to just 12 percent of nonparticipants. As the report concluded, “The current rate of receiving incentives among REC participants compared with nonparticipants is notable given some EHR systems’ limited capacity to achieve meaningful use as of only three years ago.”
The survey also revealed many RECs provided “frequent and tailored help” to providers, often face to face for as long as necessary and RECs created both structured and informal opportunities for clinicians to collaborate with each other “creating economies of scale to reach more providers with limited resources and spread providers’ EHR product-specific knowledge.”
The study also found REC participants were more likely than nonparticipants to routinely use six EHR features. More than 90 percent of survey respondents used their EHRs to record patient demographic information, problem lists, vital signs, smoking status, clinical notes, and prescriptions. These features include five key goals for Stage 1 MU and one menu objective.
The findings underscore those revealed in a 2012 General Accountability Office report which found Medicare doctors who work with RECs are twice as likely to receive incentives.
“In short, the hard work of thousands of people across the country engaging in and with RECs has contributed to a remarkable increase in the national health IT adoption rate among physicians, nurse practitioners and others. This success in digitizing the health care system is vital to creating a connected, interoperable learning health system that results in better care, smarter spending, and healthier people in all corners of the country,” wrote Thomas A. Mason, ONC CMO, on a Health IT Buzz Blog post.