Regional extension centers (RECs) are just beginning their work to help priority primary care physicians adopt EHRs. Many RECs, however, have developed sustainability plans to take them beyond years three and four of the meaningful use criteria milestones.
A panel of three REC leaders outlined their business models this week at the National Regional Extension Centers & Health Information Exchange Summit West.
Arizona REC is looking to build on its current services and develop a one-stop shop business model to healthcare providers, said Melissa Rutala, associate director of Arizona Health-e Connection, one of the state REC’s nonprofit multi-stakeholders.
The REC is currently developing its Web portal technology and hopes to charge a small fee for specialists, while offering free access to priority primary care providers (PPCPs), she said.
Beyond its current core services, Arizona REC will offer value-added services such as security risk analysis and tools such as a community collaborative portal. Leveraging its infrastructure, it is looking to be a health IT information clearinghouse for providers and a liaison between providers and key health information exchange initiatives.
Opportunities exist with the growth of patient-centered medical homes and accountable care organization programs. “We want to get providers to focus on one centralized place for additional services as it relates to quality and pay-for-performance initiatives,” Rutala said.
Ohio Health Information Partnership’s (OHIP) basic services are free to PPCPs but its enhanced services come with a fee. Still, REC services will not provide sustainability, said Amy Andres, chair of OHIP and chief of staff for the Ohio Dept. of Insurance.
OHIP is looking to leverage existing operations and provide meaningful use consulting, enhanced services for PPCPs, basic and enhanced services for non-PPCPs, online tools for rural areas, index trust and consent agreements, and state-level services such as master entity index and authentication.
Potential revenue streams can come from acting as a neutral party to streamline and manage administrative services such as eligibility verification, coordination of benefits, real-time claims adjudication and public health, state and federal reporting, Andres said.
The Georgia Health IT REC (GA-HITREC) is overseen by Morehouse School of Medicine. Georgia has no state-supported funding, a 13 percent adoption rate for EHRs and two million people either on Medicaid or without insurance – or one in five live in an underserved community, according to Dominic Mack, MD, deputy director of Morehouse School of Medicine’s National Center for Primary Care and project director for GA-HITREC.
GA-HITREC plans to leverage the close relationship it has developed with providers and the community to deliver sustainable services that will further strengthen the bond, he said, noting that "our core competency is our relationship with providers."
The REC is considering administering group purchasing agreements for ancillary services, and services around practice management, meaningful use, workforce development, data conversion, vetting and Web services for members.
