The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT has set aside about $25 million in additional funds for regional health IT extension centers (RECs) to help small critical access and rural hospitals set up health IT systems, the ONC announced.
The facilities have unique needs because of their small size and may require additional support and expertise in picking and deploying appropriate electronic health record systems, the Office said.
Regional extension centers are eligible for $12,000 for each critical access and rural hospital for which they provide technical assistance. A two-year expansion of the funding will ensure small facilities in the extension center's service area also receive support services.
In February, ONC awarded $375 million in grants to create 32 regional extension centers to accelerate meaningful use of health IT. The centers will help physicians and hospitals computerize medical records and use the technology to improve care to patients. ONC plans to award another set of extension center grants, originally planned for March, to reach a total of 70 centers.
There are about 2,073 critical access and rural hospitals with fewer than 50 beds each. They are "vital components of the rural health care system," according to ONC's notice, which was published March 29.
ONC said it expects to award the supplemental funds June 15.
Extension centers that receive the supplemental funds will have to follow the same requirements as in the original grant to account for their services to healthcare providers and how they used the award money.
These include the use of a customer relationship management tool to track milestones associated with this project, a biennial evaluation and a separate report about the activities covered by the supplemental funding.
