RI Regional Extension Center Announces First Specialists To Reach Meaningful Use

The RI Regional Extension Center (RI REC), a service of Rhode Island Quality Institute (RIQI), has announced that the first two specialists in its Electronic Health Record Adoption (EHRA) Program have successfully attested to Meaningful Use. Both providers are psychiatrists at the Women’s Medicine Collaborative (WMC) at The Miriam Hospital. Historically, RI REC only served primary care practices but earlier this year opened its EHRA Program to specialists, offering them the same opportunity to receive hands-on assistance with adopting health information technology and meeting the Meaningful Use requirements of the Federal Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Records Incentive Programs. WMC is also receiving assistance from the RI REC with adopting other quality improvements including Direct secure messaging (a national initiative), and Hospital Alerts and Viewer – two services of CurrentCare, the statewide health information exchange that is operated and maintained by RIQI.

“Women’s Medicine Collaborative has been working with RI REC as part of our efforts to transform our practice to a patient-centered medical home,” said Dr. Margaret Miller, Director, Women’s Medicine Collaborative. “RI REC played a key role in helping us efficiently and effectively sort through the requirements for meaningful use and in educating our primary care providers, and now, our first two specialists to achieve Meaningful Use. RI REC also connected us to CurrentCare, so we can more readily access our patients’ health information from other health facilities in RI. They have been with us every step of the way and will continue to be a most valuable resource for us to meet our goal of providing high quality, cost-effective, patient-centered care.”

To date, RI REC has 1,156 primary care and specialist providers enrolled in its EHR Adoption program and has assisted 632 with successfully attesting to Meaningful Use. These milestones are especially important to Rhode Island residents, because better use of EHRs leads to more coordinated care, fewer medical errors, and lower costs to the health system. All RI residents will benefit as our providers achieve Meaningful Use and apply health IT as a springboard to many initiatives that will be critical to the new healthcare landscape.

About Rhode Island Quality Institute
RIQI is a center of collaborative innovation that advances health and healthcare transformation. Our mission is to improve the quality, safety and value of healthcare and share knowledge that advances the field of healthcare improvement. RIQI is a 501c3 non-profit organization founded in 2001 and overseen by a Board of Directors made up of senior health industry leaders from our community, including CEOs of hospitals, health insurers and health-related businesses, along with leaders of consumer groups, academia and government agencies. For more information, visit www.riqi.org.