There were many concerns when ARRA funds were first announced, with fears of the digital divide widening being one of the major ones. Thus far, HHS and ONC have done a great job in terms of thoughtful and thorough strategic planning and establishing programs to ensure that those concerns are addressed.
Last Thursday, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced $83.9 million in grants to 45 organizations to help health center networks adopt EHRs and other health IT systems. The funds fall under HHS’ Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) and will therefore equip its health center programs with health IT in order to provide 21st century healthcare services to low-income and uninsured individuals. HRSA is the primary federal agency responsible for improving access to healthcare services for uninsured, isolated or medically vulnerable individuals.
This funding is significant, given the recent healthcare reform legislation, which is expected to bring 32 million individuals into the healthcare delivery system. Of the 32 million, 19 million are expected to seek services at HRSA-covered health centers.
The community-based Health Center Controlled Networks (HCCN) will be able to provide HRSA-covered health centers with the necessary resources to implement health IT. Not only will patients of these safety-net providers receive state-of-the-art care, but professionals who work in these health centers and demonstrate meaningful use of EHRs may be eligible for federal incentive payments under Medicare and Medicaid. That's a double bonus.
If you look at the list of grantees, you'll see how comprehensive and expansive the coverage is, from rural to urban, Alaska to Florida. Given the number of grantees in California and New York, the funding is also properly aligned with population.
What will be critical to the success of this funding is how well the HCCNs execute. One hopes part of plan is to review how well the HCCNs are helping the health centers achieve meaningful use of their health IT implementations.
