Mississippi REC fast out of the gate
On our story about the slow pace at which physicians are signing up to receive training regional health IT extension centers, Robert Johannessen of eQHealth Solutions wrote:
"Although slow sign-ups might be the case across the county, primary care providers in Mississippi are actively working with the eQHealth REC. As of Sept. 13, we have had 446 primary care providers, including 176 community health centers, sign up to work with us. With an ONC-mandated target of 1,000 providers, we are almost to the halfway point for this first milestone. In only five months!"
Health care costs and VLER
Regarding our story on the launch in Spokane, Wash., of the fourth Veterans Affairs-Defense Department (Virtual Lifetime Electronic Record) community, Bob Kirkpatrick from Spokane had this to say:
"It's not a bad thing, except that the cost of visiting private care facilities must be born by the veteran because "they chose" to visit a private facility. Many vets simply can't afford this and so they end up unattended-to. Those vets who are 100 percent service connected and 100 percent disabled and prone to needing emergency care are owed their care by the government and this should be addressed in conjunction with VLER if it is to truly achieve success."
Cheers for CDC best practice network
In response to our story on a CDC grant award to set-up a network of performance improvement managers to share best practices, Vickie Meyer from Fort Wayne, Ind., wrote:
"As a Trauma Injury Prevention Coordinator I am happy to see this coordination through the public health departments and community leaders. We need to, always, focus on the individual and his/her needs."
Blue buttons and red tape
