Tables with First and Second Round Awardees and Amounts
HHS Press Release announding release of $267 Million in Recovery Funds shown below in section after tables
On April 6, 2010, the Office of National Coordinator for Health IT announced the 28 organizations that won funding as Regional Extension Centers, each of which will be responsible for getting at least 1,000 primary care providers up-to-speed and using Electronic Health Records for meaningful use. Added to the first round of 32 awardees from February 2010, a total of 60 Extension Centers will be established. The centers, which will “provide hands-on, community-based support to accelerate the adoption of Health Information Technology” are named in two tables below, along with the amount of the awards. The national goal is to convert at least 100,000 primary care clinicians to meaningful use of Electronic Health Records within two years.
Excerpted from ONC’s Health Information Technology Extension page on April 6, 2010: “The HITECH Act authorizes a Health Information Technology Extension Program. The extension program consists of Health Information Technology Regional Extension Centers (RECs) and a national Health Information Technology Research Center (HITRC). The RECs will offer technical assistance, guidance, and information to support and accelerate health care providers’ efforts to become meaningful users of Electronic Health Records (EHRs). The HITRC will be responsible for gathering relevant information on effective practices and help the RECs collaborate with one another and with relevant stakeholders to identify and share best practices in EHR adoption, effective use, and provider support.
“The REC cooperative agreements were awarded in two rounds with 32 awards announced in February 2010 and 28 in April 2010. The final number of RECs in the program is 60.”
Grantees in second series of awards (announced April 6, 2010)
| REC Awardees | Federal Share |
| Alaska eHealth Network, Anchorage, AK | $3,632,357 |
| University of South Alabama, Mobile, AL | $7,519,969 |
| Arizona Health-e Connection, Phoenix, AZ | $10,791,644 |
| Local Initiative Health Authority for Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, CA | $15,625,910 |
| eHealthConnecticut, Inc., Rocky Hill, CT | $5,749,309 |
| National Indian Health Board, Washington, DC | $15,625,910 |
| Quality Insights of Delaware, Inc., Wilmington, DE | $5,859,716 |
| University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL | $7,669,328 |
| Community Health Centers Alliance, Inc, St. Petersburg, FL | $10,982,866 |
| University of South Florida, Tampa, FL | $5,884,132 |
| Hawaii Health Information Exchange, Honolulu, HI | $5,859,716 |
| University of Kentucky Research Foundation, Lexington, KY | $6,005,467 |
| Louisiana Health Care Quality Forum, Baton Rouge, LA | $6,207,802 |
| HealthInfoNet, Manchester, ME | $4,777,483 |
| Chesapeake Regional Information System for our Patients, Baltimore, MD | $5,535,423 |
| eQHealth Solutions, Inc , Baton Rouge, LA | $4,289,613 |
| The Curators of the University of Missouri, Columbia, MO | $6,836,335 |
| Mountain-Pacific Quality Health Foundation, Helena, MT | $5,020,754 |
| New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ | $23,048,351 |
| Quality Insights of Pennsylvania, Inc. (Eastern), King of Prussia, PA | $28,810,271 |
| Quality Insights of Pennsylvania, Inc. (Western), King of Prussia, PA | $15,625,910 |
| Ponce School of Medicine, PR | $19,280,795 |
| South Carolina Research Foundation, Columbia, SC | $5,581,407 |
| Dakota State University, Madison, SD | $5,687,168 |
| The TAMUS Health Science Center Research Foundation. College Station, TX | $5,279,970 |
| University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX | $15,274,327 |
| Dallas- Fort Worth Hospital Council Education and Research Foundation, Irving, TX | $8,488,513 |
| Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. Lubbock, TX | $6,666,296 |
| Total | $267, 616, 742 |
Grantees in first series of awards (announced Feb 12, 2010)
| RECs Awardee | Federal Share |
| Arkansas Foundation For Medical Care |
$7,400,000 |
| Northern California Regional Extension Center |
$17,286,081 |
| Southern California Regional Extension Center |
$13,961,339 |
| Colorado RHIO |
$12,475,000 |
| District of Columbia Primary Care Association |
$5,488,437 |
| Health Choice Network, Inc., Florida |
$8,500,000 |
| Morehouse School of Medicine, Inc., Georgia |
$19,521,542 |
| Northern Illinois University |
$7,546,000 |
| Northwestern University |
$7,649,533 |
| Iowa IFMC |
$5,508,019 |
| Purdue University |
$12,000,000 |
| Kansas Foundation for Medical Care Inc. |
$7,000,000 |
| Massachusetts Technology Park Cooperation |
$13,433,107 |
|
Altarum Institute, Michigan |
$19,619,990 |
| Key Health Alliance (Stratis Health), Minnesota – North Dakota |
$19,000,000 |
| CIMRO of Nebraska |
$6,647,371 |
| LCF Research, New Mexico |
$6,175,000 |
| New York eHealth Collaborative (NYeC) |
$26,534,999 |
| Fund for Public Health New York |
$21,754,010 |
| University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill |
$13,569,169 |
| Greater Cincinnati HealthBridge (Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana) |
$9,738,000 |
| Ohio Health Information Partnership |
$28,500,000 |
| Oklahoma Foundation for Medical Quality, Inc. |
$5,331,685 |
| OCHIN Inc. (Primary), Oregon |
$13,201,499 |
| Rhode Island Quality Institute |
$6,000,000 |
| Qsource (Tennessee) |
$7,256,155 |
| HealthInsight, Utah-Nevada |
$6,917,783 |
| Vermont Information Technology Leaders, Inc. |
$6,762,080 |
| VHQC and the Center for Innovative Technology, for The Virginia Consortium |
$12,425,000 |
| Qualis Health, Washington – Idaho |
$12,846,482 |
| West Virginia Health Improvement Institute Inc. |
$6,000,000 |
| MetaStar, Inc, Wisconsin |
$9,125,000 |
| Total |
$375,173,281 |
Press Release from HHS released April 6, 2010
HHS Announces $267 Million in Recovery Act Funds for New Health IT Regional Extension Centers
Grants to Provide Hands-On, Community-Based Support to Providers to Accelerate the Adoption of Health Information Technology
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced today that more than $267 million has been awarded to 28 additional non-profit organizations to establish Health Information Technology Regional Extension Centers (RECs). This investment, funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, will help grow the emerging health information technology (health IT) industry which is expected to support tens of thousands of jobs ranging from nurses and pharmacy techs to IT technicians and trainers.
RECs enable health care practitioners to reach out to a local resource for technical assistance, guidance, and information on best practices. RECs are designed to address unique community requirements and to support and accelerate provider efforts to become meaningful users of electronic health records.
“Health care in our country is community-based. Today’s awards represent our ongoing commitment to make sure that health providers have the necessary support within their communities to maximize the use of health IT to improve the care they provide to their patients,” said Secretary Sebelius.
This round of awards, bringing the total number of REC’s to 60, will provide nationwide outreach and technical support services to at least 100,000 primary care providers and hospitals within two years. The primary care provider is usually the first medical practitioner contacted by a patient. Studies have also found that primary care providers are at the forefront of practicing preventative medicine, a key to improving population health and reducing overall health costs. More than $375 million had been awarded earlier to RECs under this program.
Additionally, all REC awardees, those announced today and the 32 announced on Feb. 12, 2010, now have an opportunity to apply for a two-year expansion supplemental award. The supplemental awards would ensure that health IT support services are available to over 2,000 of the nation’s critical access hospitals and rural hospitals, both defined as having 50 beds or less. Approximately $25 million is available through this supplemental expansion program.
“Regional extension centers will provide the needed hands-on, field support for all health care providers to advance the rapid adoption and use of health IT. RECs are a vital part of our overall efforts to improve the quality and efficiency of health care through the effective use of health IT,” said Dr. David Blumenthal, national coordinator for health information technology.
Today’s awards are part of the $2 billion effort by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to achieve widespread meaningful use of health IT and provide use of an electronic health record by every person by the year 2014.
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