Some regional extension centers are taking “extensive actions” to stay in business after federal funding for the four-year initiative comes to an end, according to a former federal official, Medical Practice Insider reports (Irving, Medical Practice Insider, 3/20).
Background
Under the 2009 economic stimulus package, health care providers who demonstrate meaningful use of certified electronic health record systems can qualify for Medicaid and Medicare incentive payments.
The package provided about $688 million in federal funding to create 62 RECs tasked with helping 100,000 health care providers meet meaningful use criteria.
Without further action from the federal government, funding for RECs will expire in 2015 (Brino, Government Health IT, 3/21).
REC Achievements, Future Efforts
In an interview with Medical Practice Insider, Mat Kendall — former director of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT’s Office of Provider Adoption Support — touted the success of RECs, noting that the initiative is helping 150,000 primary care providers adopt EHRs, surpassing its goal of reaching 100,000 primary care providers (Medical Practice Insider, 3/20).
On Friday, Kendall stepped down from his post at ONC after four-and-a-half years (Conn, “Vital Signs,” Modern Healthcare, 3/14).
With federal funding for RECs set to expire at the end of the year, Kendall said that “[m]any of the extension centers have taken extensive actions to ensure that they have business and stability models to support providers.” He noted that providers “will always have extension centers and other organizations similar [that] will be able to meet their needs.”
Specifically, Kendall said that RECs still will be valuable to providers after they have achieved meaningful use by helping them “move into new payment models such as shared-savings programs.” He added that the new payment models will enable “doctors [to] use technology to improve the quality of care” (Medical Practice Insider, 3/20). Source
