More than 1,300 health centers across the U.S. and its territories will be given $87 million for information technology enhancements, Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell announced Sept. 15.
The funding is earmarked as part of the Affordable Care Act’s Community Health Center Fund, which was recently extended with bipartisan support as part of MACRA. It’s the first significant investment since 2009 directly awarded to health centers to support the purchase of information technology.
All purchases or upgrades of electronic health record systems made with the funding must be certified by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT.
The money is meant to to support health IT enhancements aimed at speeding these providers’ shift toward value-based care, through better data exchange, clinical decision support, patient engagement and more, according to HHS.
[Also: HHS awards $36 million to boost IT uptake at health center networks]
“These awards will allow health centers to deliver higher quality of care to patients and spend health care dollars in a smarter way,” said Jim Macrae, Health Resources and Services Administration Acting Administrator, in a statement.
“Health centers across the country are instrumental in providing high-quality, comprehensive primary health care to millions of people,” added Burwell. “This investment will help unlock health care data and put it to work, improving health outcomes and building a better health care system for the American people.”
