A coalition of medical and IT groups has received a $10.7 million grant from the federal office responsible to encourage physicians to adopt electronic medical record technologies.
The Arizona Health e-Connection (AZHeC) will lead the coalition in its quest to understand and address the challenges that face physicians trying to transition to electronic records. Funding will be channeled through the Arizona Regional Extension Center created to provide general and technical assistance services to providers.
The grant, which came from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information
Technology (ONC), is part of $40 billion set aside in the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).
Electronic records are already in place in many Arizona practices but smaller and solo practices have been reluctant to adopt them, citing cost and their own resistance to changing over from paper records.
Doctors who have adopted the technology are enthusiastic about the results, citing better doctor-patient communications through email, instant access to complete and legible patient records, improved record-keeping, and searching ability. For example, physicians using electronic records were able to quickly identify high-risk patients they want to prioritize for vaccination against H1N1 over the past year.
What's more, physicians who participate in the new Extension Center and adopt electronic medical records qualify for Medicare and Medicaid incentive payments provided through ARRA.
Other coalition partners include ASU's Department of Biomedical Informatics and the Health Services Advisory Group, a health care quality improvement organization. The Arizona Medical Association, Arizona Osteopathic Medical Association, and University of Arizona will assist with outreach and education and outreach to the physician community.
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