REC Highlights
Health care providers can often face significant challenges transitioning to electronic health records (EHRs) and demonstrating meaningful use process. RECs understand these challenges and are here to help. Locate the REC designated to help you and your practice below.
Find an REC: Listing of Regional Extension Centers
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Alabama: The Alabama Regional Extension Center (ALREC)
The Alabama Regional Extension Center (ALREC), led by the University of South Alabama, is the federally designated REC for the state of Alabama. The purpose of ALREC is to furnish assistance; defined as education, outreach, and vendor neutral technical assistance; to help providers in Alabama select, successfully implement and become meaningful users of certified EHR technology to improve the quality and value of healthcare in Alabama.
Services
- Meaningful Use
- Privacy and Security Consulting
- Meaningful Use Audit Preparation
- Continuing Education
- MU Compliance Monitoring
Achievements
- Assisted over 1,500 providers in the state of Alabama, with a 95% success rate of meaningful use attestation.
- Helping 100% of FQHCs throughout the state of Alabama.
- Helped assist Critical Access Hospitals and Rural Hospitals bringing 90% to MU.
- Helped bring over 61 million dollars in Incentive Dollars to Alabama providers.
Assisting state Medicaid with MU assistance to 500 specialists in the state.
Connect with ALREC: Website | Facebook | REC Contact
Alaska: Alaska eHealth Network (AeHN)
The Alaska eHealth Network (AeHN) is a 501(c)(3) Alaska non-profit corporation. AeHN was formed in 2005 and is actively partnering public and private health service organizations, Individuals and businesses to advance the use of secure electronic information in improving Healthcare by achieving better outcomes, increased access to care, and reduce the average cost of care per patient.
Services
- Health Information Exchange (HIE) and Direct Secure Messaging (DSM) system availability, connectivity and support services, enrollment, operations, use optimization, education and advocacy.
- EHR adoption, readiness assessments, program/implementation management, advice and consulting, and Work Flow optimization
- HIPAA Privacy & HIT – Personal Health Information (PMI) security, including risk assessments and analyses
- CMS Meaningful Use audit preparation and consulting services
- Tailored Health Data Analytics for individual and population health decision support, report writing and predictive modeling
- Grant writing and grant management support services
Achievements
- Helped bring over $4.8 million of EHR adoption incentive payments into Alaska
- Assisted over 700 practitioners with continuous EHR assistance
- Helped over 225 practices achieve Medicaid AIU certification,
- Moved 197 eligible professionals achieve Stage 1 meaningful use certification with 494 more achieving “Go-Live “status with their selected EHR.
- Over 4000 users are enrolled and using the AeHN Direct Secure Messaging (DSM) system
Connect with AeHN: Website | HIE Support | REC Contact
Arizona: Arizona Regional Extension Center
The Arizona REC is a non-profit, unbiased team of experts in utilizing health IT to improve and transform health care delivery and practice. One of 62 federally funded and designated RECs nationwide, the REC today serves all Arizona providers regardless of size or specialty, including hospitals and clinics.
Services
- Meaningful Use gap analysis & assistance
- Privacy & security consulting
- System configuration & customization
- Assistance with patient-centered medical home (PCMH)certification
- Quality improvement
- Interoperability assistance
Achievements
- Assisted more than 2,500 providers in the state of Arizona in adopting electronic health records and meeting Meaningful Use.
- Helped bring over $68 million to Arizona providers through the Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Program.
- Helped all eligible Community Health Centers, Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) and Rural Health Clinics throughout the state of Arizona.
- Provided more than 100 educational events and webinars to Arizona REC members.
- Answered questions and provided assistance to REC members through more than 2,700 inbound calls to the REC
Connect with the Arizona REC: Website | Twitter | REC Contact
Arkansas: Arkansas Foundation for Medical Care (AFMC)/HITArkansas
HITArkansas, a division of the Arkansas Foundation for Medical Care, provides guidance and training with regard to meaningful use and privacy and security measures to participating Arkansas primary care physicians, specialists and hospitals.
Services
- Meaningful Use, Stages 1, 2 and beyond
- ePHI Security Risk Assessments--Review of policies and procedures as well as technical and physical protection review
- Consultation on participation in the Comprehensive Primary Care Initiative, SHARE Health Information Exchange, Arkansas Department of Health reporting, and other initiatives
- Registered Health Information Administrator (RHIA) consulting
- Compliance with HIPAA and OSHA
- Applied clinical informatics
- Practice management strategies
Achievements
- Assisted over 1,280 primary care providers in the state of Arkansas with a 48% success rate of Meaningful Use attestation to date
- Helping more than 90% of FQHCs and Rural Health Clinics throughout the state of Arkansas
- Serving as a trusted advisor for providers seeking guidance on the health transformation initiatives being implemented throughout the state
- Earned national recognition for innovations in data management and resource development
Connect with HITArkansas: Website | Facebook | Twitter | REC Contact
California: California Health Information Partnership Services Organization (CalHIPSO)
The California Health Information Partnership Services Organization (CalHIPSO) is the largest REC in the country, serving 56 of California’s 58 counties. CalHIPSO works in rural and urban settings, providing technical assistance to community clinics, solo practices, and large hospitals. The path to meaningful use is different for every organization, but CalHIPSO has a team of experts ready to meet this challenge.
Services
- Stage 1 meaningful use
- Preparation and readiness for Stage 2 meaningful use
- EHR implementation
- Health system care coordination consulting
- Quality reporting improvement consulting (PQRS and eRx)
- Supplemental EHR training for medical assistant students
Achievements
- Assisted 7,055 providers in California implement an EHR
- Helped over 3,100 providers achieve meaningful use
- Helped bring over $110 million in EHR incentive payments to providers in California
- Facilitated the creation of 590 HITECH jobs
- Provides services to 62% of California’s rural and critical access hospitals: of which 93% have implemented an EHR and 64% have achieved meaningful use
Connect with CalHIPSO: Website | Facebook | REC Contact
California: CalOPTIMA Regional Extension Center (COREC)
The CalOptima Regional Extension Center (COREC) is a federally-designated Regional Extension Center funded by the Office of the National Coordinator, Department of Health and Human Services, to support providers in Orange County, CA, in selection, implementation, and achievement of meaningful use of Electronic health record systems. COREC is at the forefront of providing practices with integrated data analytics to achieve optimal patient health and disease management.
Services
- EHR Implementation, Project Management, and Workflow Optimization
- Educational seminars on Meaningful Use Stage 2, ICD 10, and Health Information Exchange (HIE)
- Privacy and Security Risk Analysis, Policies, and Procedures
- Technical Security Assessment (Network, Hardware, Virus Protection, Encryption, etc.)
- Data and Clinical Quality Analytics Pilot Program
Achievements
- Assisted over 1,000 health care providers in Orange County, California
- Over 100% of our providers have enrolled
- Over 100% of providers have implemented EHR
- Achieved 75% of its meaningful use target
- Expect to achieve 100% of MU target by end of 2013
Connect with COREC: Facebook | Twitter | REC Contact
California: HITEC-LA
Health Information Technology Extension Center for Los Angeles County (HITEC-LA) is an independent, non-profit organization working as a project of L.A. Care Health Plan, the nation’s largest publicly operated health plan. HITEC-LA is dedicated to helping Los Angeles County health care providers implement and meaningfully use electronic health records (EHRs) by providing high quality, personalized technical assistance.
Services
- Certified EHR Selection, Implementation, and Meaningful Use
- Privacy and Security
- Health Information Exchange
- Patient Centered Medical Home and Patient Engagement
- Program Integration with L.A. Care to Better Serve their Members
Achievements
- Helped 4,000 PPCPs go-live on certified EHRs
- Guided 2,300 PPCPs to meaningful use
- Working with 64 community clinics/health centers in L.A. County
- Assisted providers throughout L.A. County to qualify for $55M in EHR incentive payments
- Worked with L.A. Care to deploy an additional health IT incentive program that paid out $3.9M to more than 900 physicians who care for the lowest income and most vulnerable residents of L.A. County
Connect with HITEC-LA: Website | Facebook | Twitter | REC Contact
Colorado: Colorado RHIO
Through a partnership with six prominent health organizations across the state, the Colorado Regional Extension Center, an initiative of Colorado RHIO, provides training and support services to eligible primary care providers in small practices, Rural Hospitals and Critical Access Hospitals to achieve Stage 1 Meaningful Use.
Services
- EHR system selection and implementation assistance
- Meaningful Use support and monitoring
- Privacy and Security review and HIPAA compliance training
- Meaningful Use educational training sessions
- Clinical workflow and process redesign
- Local workforce development
- Quality improvement
Achievements
- Assisted over 3,000 providers in Colorado with system selection and implementation
- 100% of signed providers are using EHRs and over 60% are meaningful users
- Assisted 33 Critical Access Hospitals with system selection and implementation. 90% are using EHRs and 88% of those users have attested to Meaningful Use
- Assisted Colorado providers and hospitals receive over $200 Million in Medicare and Medicaid incentive payments
Connecticut: eHealthConnecticut Regional Extension Center
The eHealthConnecticut REC is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to facilitate the statewide adoption of electronic health records and health information exchange to dramatically improve the quality, safety and efficiency of health care in Connecticut. eHealthConnecticut is the federally designated Regional Extension Center for the state of Connecticut.
Services
- Technical assistance in choosing and implementing EHR’s
- Practice Workflow Analysis
- Troubleshooting vendor relationships
- Analyzing and closing meaningful use gaps
- Assistance in attesting to Meaningful Use – both Medicaid and Medicare
- Meaningful use optimization and preparation for various aspects of healthcare reform
Achievements
- Enrolled over 1500 primary care providers in the program to meet our enrollment goal of 1308
- Assisted over 95% of our active members in achieving live status on a certified EHR system and nearly 50% in achieving Meaningful Use.
- Enrolled all of CT’s 14 FQHC’s in the REC program with nearly 100% being live on an EHR system.
- Successfully integrated our MU assistance program with PCMH training and recognition program for over 100 primary care providers.
- Implemented a population health quality improvement program with the statewide association of FQHC’s using pop Health, the ONC supported open source software tool.
- Working with CT’s HIE authority to develop a private label HISP for eHealthConnecticut providers and others to support the implementation of Direct Exchange in CT.
Connect with eHealthConnecticut: Website | Facebook | Twitter | REC Contact
Delaware: Quality Insights of Delaware, Inc.
Quality Insights of Delaware – Regional Extension Center (QIDE REC), led by Quality Insights of Delaware, a nonprofit quality improvement organization, is the federally designated Regional Extension Center for the state of Delaware.
Services
- EHR Adoption & Implementation
- Meaningful Use
- HIPAA Privacy & Security
- Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) Assistance
- Accountable Care Organization (ACO) Assistance
Achievements
- Helped bring in approximately $46 million of incentive payments into Delaware
- Assisted 943 eligible professionals to achieve meaningful use Stage 1
- #1 REC in the country for Milestone 2 (EHR Go-Live) goal achievement – 137% (as of 8/6/13)
- #1 REC in the country for Milestone 3 (Stage 1 MU) goal achievement – 94.3% (as of 8/6/13)
- Partnered with Delaware Valley Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (DV-HIMSS) to host successful statewide Health IT event & recognition ceremony, bringing together providers from different care settings and communities
Connect with QIDE REC: WebsiteWeb Site Disclaimers | FacebookWeb Site Disclaimers | TwitterWeb Site Disclaimers | REC Contact
District of Columbia: District of Columbia REC
The District of Columbia REC, also known as eHealthDC, is a program of the DC Primary Care Association, a non-profit organization whose mission is to ensure equitable access to health care for residents of the District of Columbia—regardless of their ability to pay.
Services
- EHR Adoption, Implementation and Hosting Services
- Meaningful Use Support
- Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) Support
- HIPAA Compliance Training
- Privacy & Security Assessment and Guidance
- Medicaid and Medicare Incentive Eligibility Assessment
Achievements
- All of the District’s community health centers and FQHCs, representing a total of 290 PPCPs, have implemented certified electronic health records.
- More than 60% of eligible health center providers have achieved Stage 1 Meaningful Use.
- To date, 86% of eligible eHealthDC registered priority primary care providers have achieved Stage 1 Meaningful Use.
- The eHealthDC team has assisted the District of Columbia Department of Health Care Finance (Medicaid) in testing the State Registry system and launching the EHR Medicaid Incentive program
- eHealthDC has joined with the Health Center Network of New York to form the Qual IT Care Alliance, which will provide direct Meaningful Use and PCMH technical assistance to 10 FQHCs located in the District of Columbia, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Florida.
District of Columbia: National Indian Health Board (NIHB REC)
The mission of the National Indian Health Board Regional Extension Center (NIHB REC) is to provide technical health IT services to assist 2,700 priority primary care providers working in Indian Health Service/Tribal/Urban Indian (I/T/U) health facilities across the U.S. to qualify for CMS’s Meaningful Use incentives by the end of 2014. These I/T/U health facilities provide health services to approximately 2 million American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/AN) located in 35 states across the U.S.
Services
- Certified EHR Software Configuration and Optimization, e.g. e-Prescribing, Lab, and other software components
- EHR Software End User Training Sessions—many including continuing education credits for eligible participants
- Meaningful Use of EHR Support Services
- Clinic and Hospital Workflow Enhancements, Optimization and Efficiency Services
- Privacy & Security Consulting
Achievements
- Assisted over 2,700 providers in the Indian Health System located across 35 states who have implemented certified EHRs.
- Helped bring over $47 million incentive dollars to providers and hospitals throughout the Indian Health System.
- Produced the first-ever national database of Primary Care Providers working in IHS/Tribal/Urban Indian (I/T/U) health facilities across the U.S.
- Provided most Tribal and Urban Indian health facilities their first-ever comprehensive Security Risk Assessments.
- Established capabilities within regional Tribal Health Organizations to serve as future Health IT Project Management teams.
Connect with NIHB REC: Website | REC Contact
Florida: Center for the Advancement of Health IT (FL)
The Center for the Advancement of Health IT (FL) is a membership organization that facilitates the selection, implementation, and support of services and technologies that are best acquired or maintained by a centralized organization, allowing its members to expand and improve health-related services for all.
Services
- Meaningful Use Stage 1 and Stage 2
- Security Risk Assessment
- Privacy & Security
- PCMH
- Disaster Recovery Planning
- Patient Engagement
Achievements
- AHIT has enrolled and assisted more than 2500 priority primary care providers within the 41 county service areas.
- More than 1950 of enrolled priority primary care providers have implemented advanced health information technology, including EHR, electronic prescribing (eRx), and Clinical Quality Measure (CQM) reporting.
- 1038 priority primary care providers have attested to Meaningful Use under the Medicaid and Medicare programs.
- AHIT has assisted400 specialists above and beyond the REC scope of funding and close to 40% have reached MU.
- Assisted providers in rural settings with a mix of web-based learning, remote one-on-one coaching, in-person site visits, and an expanded group of community outreach / co-marketing organizations successfully engaged.
- Collaboration with the College Consortia promoting both their Health IT (HIT) Workforce program and their interns to practices.
- AHIT practice segmentation includes providing MU assistance to 368 small practices, 15 FQHCs, 2 Rural Hospitals, 8 Critical Access Hospitals, 14 Rural Health Clinics.
Connect with Center for the Advancement of Health IT (FL): Website | REC Contact
Florida: Central Florida HIT Initiative
The Central Florida HIT Initiative, also known as the University of Central Florida REC, is transforming healthcare through Health IT and patient engagement. Our healthcare IT specialists provide personalized on-site consultations to Central Florida providers helping to maximize quality, efficiency, and financial return on investment.
Services
- Meaningful Use assistance and ongoing monitoring
- CMS incentive and regulatory education
- Core Measure 15 security risk analysis tools and mitigation guidance
- Audit preparedness
- Meaningful Use Stage 2 readiness support
- HIE Interoperability and connectivity assistance
- Patient Centered Medical Home consultancy services
- Continuing education
Achievements
- Assisted 2,261 providers, 1,743 of which have successfully gone live on an EHR, and 812 of which have achieved MU.
- As of April 30, 2013, helped bring $20,593,928.90 million in incentive payments to providers in Central Florida.
- Assisted 25 underserved settings including the majority of Rural Health Clinics, FQHC’s, Community Health Centers, and Department of Health locations.
- Helped 1,385 providers in Central Florida register for an EHR incentive program, 985 of which have been paid for AIU and/or MU.
- Created Million Hearts simulation tools to assist practices in educating patients to better manage chronic conditions.
Connect with Central Florida HIT Initiative: Website | Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn
Florida: PaperFree Florida Collaborative Health Information Technology Regional Extension
PaperFree Florida is a venture of USF Health at the University of South Florida and serves as the federally designated HIT Regional Extension Center for 11 counties in western and central Florida. USF Health initially created PaperFree Tampa Bay, to assist providers to ePrescribe, and the program has evolved into PaperFree Florida which provides many health information technology services, including the adoption, implementation, and meaningful use of electronic health records.
Services
- Meaningful Use Consulting
- EHR Implementation
- PQRS Consulting
- Privacy & Security Consulting
- EHR Training and Implementation Support
- International HIT Specialized Consulting Services
- HIE and Interoperability Consulting
Achievements
- Assisted over 1700 providers in 11 counties in the state of Florida
- Worked with over area 1000 providers to receive Meaningful Use EHR incentive payments
- Helped bring nearly $20 million incentive dollars to providers in our 11 county region of Florida
- Assisted nearly 500 providers to receive incentive payments for Adopting, Implementing, and Upgrading electronic health technology
- Provided consulting assistance to the state of Florida to streamline meaningful use immunization reporting requirements
- Developed consideration guides used statewide to assist county health departments to receive EHR incentive payments
- Have been the number 1 ranked REC program in the state of Florida since inception and have been in the top 10 performing REC programs in the USA
Connect with PaperFree Florida: Website | REC Contact
Florida: South Florida Regional Extension Center (SFREC)
The SFREC was created and funded by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) to help local physicians and health care providers select, successfully implement and meaningfully use certified EHR to improve the efficiency, quality and value of health care. We provide technical assistance; guidance and information on best practices to support and accelerate efforts to become meaningful users of certified EHR Technology.
Services
- A non-profit organization with direct and reliable access to a pipeline of key information on Health IT and the Meaningful Use of Electronic Health Record Systems
- Health Information Exchange
- Direct Secure Messaging
- I-Learning Courses: access to a learning management system for CMEs and CEUs
- Electronic Health Records
- Ongoing Educational Events
- HIPAA security risk analysis
Achievements
- We currently serve more than 3,000 priority care physicians and specialists in eight counties in South Florida.
- We have helped over 1,500 physicians reach Meaningful Use (M3).
- We have helped SFREC members to qualify for as much as $63,750 each for the Meaningful Use Incentive Program.
- The South Florida Regional Extension Center (SFREC), part of Health Choice Network of Florida, has been recognized by the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (ACHA) as an early adopter of electronic health record technology and selected to participate in the creation of a statewide health information exchange that will improve the delivery and coordination of health care.
- Partnered and supported by all universities, FQHCs and health departments in the South Florida region.
Connect with SFREC: Grant ended, but REC available for information. Website | Facebook | Twitter
Georgia: Georgia Health Information Technology Regional Extension Center (HITREC)
GA-HITEC is the only federally funded and endorsed entity to assist Georgia providers toward meaningful use of EHR technology. GA-HITEC provides hands-on technical assistance, guidance, and uses best practices to support and accelerate providers’ efforts to become meaningful users of certified EHR technology.
Services
- EHR Implementation and Project Management Assistance
- CMS EHR Incentive Program registration and payment achievement for EPs and CAHs/RHs
- CAH/RH EHR Implementation and Project Management Assistance
- Collaboration with State and Local Health Information Exchanges (HIEs)
Achievements
- Enrolled over 4,200 primary care provider members in the REC program
- Achieved:
- 100% of its enrollment target (3,963 of target 3,955);
- 87% of its implementation target (3,459 of 3,955); and
- 40% of its attainment of meaningful use (MU) target (1,565 of 3,955) to date.
- Enrolled 55 CAHs/RHs throughout the state of Georgia in the REC program, 32 of whom have demonstrated EHR meaningful use.
- Worked directly with the state Department of Community Health to facilitate the payment of over $49 million to EPs.
- Provided over 65 HIT-focused educational webinars and online courses resulting in training to over 4,600 attendees and completion of numerous HIT certifications.
Connect with GA-HITEC: Website | REC Contact
Hawaii: Hawaii Health Information Exchange
Hawai’i Health Information Exchange helps providers convert from paper to electronic health record (EHR) systems through its Hawai’i Pacific Regional Extension Center (HPREC). HPREC supports providers in choosing and implementing an EHR, establishing privacy and security best practices, redesigning workflow, and instituting health information exchange (HIE). HPREC serves all of the Hawaiian Islands, as well as Guam, America Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
Services
- Stage 1 and Stage 2 Meaningful Use
- Security Consulting (Security Awareness Training, Security Policies and Risk Assessments)
- Health Information Exchange Facilitation Services
- Direct Secure Message Provisioning
- EHR Interfaces for Public Health Reporting
- Hospital/Physician Provider Direct Links (supporting summary of care transmittals)
- Continuing Education
Achievements
- Assisted over 790 providers in the state of Hawaii, with 671 (85%) EHR adopted and 257 (33%) attested for Meaningful Use.
- Helping more than 86% of federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) and Rural Health Clinics throughout the state of Hawaii
Connect with Hawaii HIE: Website | Facebook | REC Contact
Illinois: Chicago Health Information Technology Regional Extension Center (CHITREC)
The Chicago Health Information Technology Regional Extension Center (CHITREC) emerged from collaboration between Northwestern University, the Alliance of Chicago Community Health Services, and more than 40 local and national partners that focus on health IT adoption and use within the city of Chicago. CHITREC brings Chicago together through health IT and strives to improve delivery of care by building Chicago’s health IT infrastructure.
Services
- Meaningful Use Stage 1 and Stage 2 assistance and education for primary care providers and specialists.
- Privacy & Security Best Practices education Registration & Attestation assistance for the Medicaid & Medicare EHR incentive programs
- Clinical workflow redesign and gap analysis
- Clinical quality program development and improvement, including workflow re-design.
- Assistance with connectivity to HIE and public health registries
- LAUNCH program that makes CHITREC's assistance available to specialists and others
Achievements
- Enrolled over 1,635 providers in 147 organizations
- Enrolled all Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) in Chicago
- Assisted over 70% of enrolled providers go live on their EHRs
- Helped over 500 providers collect nearly $12 million in government incentives
- Mentored nearly 50 interns in CHITREC's health IT workforce development program; about 20 are now employed full time
- Delivered education to Chicago-area providers via workshops, webinars and website content
Connect with CHITREC: Website | Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn | REC Contact
Illinois: Illinois HIT Regional Extension Center (IL-HITREC)
Illinois HIT Regional Extension Center (IL-HITREC) is a collaboration of several healthcare and educational organizations that are focused on providing education, outreach and technical assistance to priority primary care providers within the state of Illinois, outside the City of Chicago. IL-HITREC is headquartered at Northern Illinois University and has satellite delivery offices in DeKalb, Chicago, Peoria and Sauget.
Services
- Stage 1 Meaningful Use
- Stage 2 Meaningful Use (2014)
- Health Information Exchange (HIE) Consulting
- Privacy & Security Consulting (2014)
- Auto Attestation Support (Meaningful Use Assistant Software)
- Quality Reporting (2014)
Achievements
- Assisted over 1300 providers in the State of Illinois, with a 78% success rate of Meaningful Use Attestation, as of 10-31-13.
- Engaged more than 474 providers in federally qualified health centers (FQHCs), Rural Health Clinics, and providers associated with Critical Access and Rural Hospitals in the State of Illinois.
- Helped bring over $17 million EHR Incentive dollars to providers in the State of Illinois.
- IL-HITREC continues to provide a monthly newsletter called the IL-HITREC INTERCHANGE to all IL-HITREC practices, stakeholders and partners. This newsletter, along with the IL-HITREC website, provides the most recent information on Meaningful Use and the EHR Incentive Program, as well as IL-HITREC provider case studies. The newsletter is also posted on the IL-HITREC website, www.ilhitrec.org.
- IL-HITREC continues to work closely with ONC, the Illinois Medicaid program, healthcare organizations throughout the State of Illinois, neighboring RECs, Office of Health Information Technology for the State of Illinois (OHIT), CMS, and HIE efforts statewide to provide the most coordinated, up-to-date information to Illinois providers.
Connect with IL-HITREC: Website | REC Contact
Indiana: Indiana Health Information Technology Extension Center (I-HITEC)
The Indiana Health Information Technology Extension Center, also known as Purdue Healthcare Advisors, is a not-for-profit entity created in 2005 by a partnership among Purdue’s Technical Assistance Program, the Regenstrief Center for Healthcare Engineering, and the Indiana Hospital Association. Its mission is to improve healthcare quality, safety, and efficiency by applying the principles of engineering, management, and science.
Services
- Meaningful Use - assisting with Stages 1 and 2 for hospital and ambulatory organizations
- Privacy & Security Consulting - including MU and HIPAA Security Risk Assessments, vulnerability scanning, and guidance on a variety of subjects including privacy and security policy templates, encryption, and mobile devices for hospitals, ambulatory clinics, other healthcare providers, mental health organizations, and applicable business associates
- Lean PCMH Consulting – assistance with planning, readiness assessments, and policy and practice changes to expedite recognition
- Lean and Six Sigma Consulting – assistance with training and deployment of healthcare-focused lean and six sigma projects to improve quality and efficiencies
- PHA Academy – providing continuing education workshops and seminars on a variety of meaningful use, PCMH, quality system improvement, patient engagement, and security topics
Achievements
- Working with over 2,500 providers and 50 hospitals in Indiana to meet Meaningful Use, with over 75% having received incentives
- Helped bring nearly $100 million incentive dollars to providers and hospitals throughout Indiana
- Assisted more than 90% of FQHCs throughout Indiana
- Partnered with over 100 acute care and critical access hospitals in Indiana to complete meaningful use and lean/six sigma projects
- Trained thousands of healthcare professionals and providers in multiple states throughout the nation on meaningful use, security, and lean/six sigma
Connect with I-HITEC: Website | REC Contact
Iowa: Telligen (IA)
Telligen IA is partnered with the Iowa Department of Public Health and Iowa Medicaid Enterprise to maximize provider engagement in HIT/HIE through statewide education and outreach, including an annual summit bringing together stakeholders from across Iowa.
Services
- Patient-Centered Medical Home/ACO/Population Health Management Assistance
- Clinical Quality Improvement
- Health Information Exchange
- HIPAA Privacy and Security
Achievements
- Direct assistance to Iowa providers and hospitals helped contribute to over $200M in EHR incentive payments to the state as of June 2013
- Enrolled over 1,300 eligible professionals to achieve Stage 1 Meaningful Use, with 70% successful attestations thus far
- Currently #1 in the nation for percentage of critical access and rural hospitals achieving Stage Meaningful Use, with 80% successful attestations of the 84 hospitals enrolled
- Enrolled 100% of the Iowa FQHCs with the Regional Extension Center program
- Conducted successful pilots to encourage the use of Direct Secure Messaging with both REC and non-REC clients
Connect with Telligen IA: Website | Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn | REC Contact
Kansas: Kansas Foundation for Medical Care
Kansas Foundation for Medical Care is the Regional Extension Center (REC) for Health Information Technology (HIT) in Kansas, supporting healthcare providers with direct, individualized technical assistance in the adoption and Meaningful Use of Electronic Health Records. To continue addressing the needs of providers, the Kansas Foundation for Medical Care and the Kansas Association for the Medically Underserved have partnered to create Synōvim Healthcare Solutions, Inc., a not-for-profit organization.
Services
- Meaningful Use Assistance
- HIT Privacy & Security
- Electronic Health Record (EHR) Implementation
- Process Analysis and Redesign
- Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) Assistance
Achievements
- Provided Meaningful Use Assistance to over 1,590 Kansas practitioners
- Helped 653 REC participants earn a combined total of $14 million in CMS incentive payments
- Facilitated Meaningful Use Assistance for all 95 critical access and rural hospitals in Kansas with 40 receiving CMS incentives payments totaling more than $35.8 million
- Provided Meaningful Use Assistance to all 14 Federally Qualified Health Centers in Kansas resulting in more than $2 million in CMS incentive payments
- Created a firm foundation on which to continue REC like services beyond the grant period
Connect with Kansas Foundation for Medical Care: Website | LinkedIn
Kentucky: Kentucky Regional Extension Center
The Kentucky Regional Extension Center, housed at the University of Kentucky, is a trusted advisor in Health IT working with healthcare organizations to enhance the quality, efficiency, and effectiveness of care through Electronic Health Information.
Services
- Meaningful Use
- Privacy & Security Consulting
- PCMH Consulting
- Continuing Education
- Vendor-Specific EHR System Optimization
Achievements
- Assisted over 2,600 providers in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, with a 98% success rate for providers attesting to Meaningful Use.
- Helped bring over $33.4 million incentive dollars to providers and $45.1 million incentive dollars to hospitals throughout the state.
- Helping more than 95% of FQHCs and Rural Health Clinics throughout the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
- Developed an REC service model to support both Primary Care and Specialist providers through partnership with State Medicaid as well as fee-for service.
- First in the US to enable electronic reporting to the state Cancer Registry in advance of Stage 2 Meaningful Use.
- Partnered with the state to develop an education and outreach program for the BioSense 2.0 Syndromic Surveillance initiative.
Connect with Kentucky Regional Extension Center: Grant ended, but REC available for information.
Louisiana: Louisiana Health Care Quality Forum (LHCQF)
The Louisiana Health Care Quality Forum (LHCQF) is a private, not-for-profit organization dedicated to reshaping health care. Housed within the LHCQF, the Louisiana Health IT (LHIT) Resource Center is the Regional Extension Center for the state of Louisiana. LHIT Resource Center works with clients to facilitate EHR adoption and use and provide extensive project management support.
Services
- Transitioning from paper-based medical records to electronic health records (EHRs)
- Achieving Meaningful Use of EHRs
- Determining eligibility for Medicaid/Medicare incentives
- Practice and workflow redesign
- Privacy and security best practices
Achievements
- Works with more than 1,700 health care providers, including more than 1,400 primary care providers, more than 200 specialists and 35 critical access hospitals, in the transition to EHRs.
- Assisted more than 600 providers in achieving Meaningful Use.
- Assisted providers in applying for and receiving more than $14.5 million in Medicaid/Medicare EHR Incentive Payments.
- Assisted hospitals in applying for and receiving more than $22.8 million in Medicaid/Medicare EHR Incentive Payments.
- Received CMS funding through the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals to assist optometrists in receiving EHR incentive payments for Medicaid and Medicare.
Connect with LHCQF: Website | Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn | REC Contact