Electronic Medical Record (emr) Implementation: Role Of Rec" s
As the CMS has announced the "meaningful Use of EMR" the next important question is what measures government is talking to implement it? What kind of bodies would be governing it? Given the fact that to cover huge geographies is massive task and past experience has shown that robust local technical assistance is required.
Regional Extension Centers could be those local technical assistance.They are nonprofit government funded organizations which are 70 in number across U.S. They have partnered with local resources, such as community colleges, to promote integration of health IT into the initial and ongoing training of health professionals and supporting staff as it can result in effective implementation of EMRs and quality improvement throughout a defined geographic area. They are designed to address unique community requirements and to support and accelerate provider efforts to become meaningful users of electronic health records.
Purpose:
Providers seeking to meaningfully use the Electronic Medical Record (EMR) face a variety of challenges. Some of their major queries are, who will help them in accessing their needs, selecting and implementing and establishing workflow changes to improve clinical performance.
The purpose of the RECs is to furnish assistance by way of education, outreach and technical assistance to help primary care providers in their geographic service areas to select, successfully implement and meaningfully use certified EHR technology to improve the quality and value of healthcare.
Regional Centers will also help providers achieve, through appropriate available infrastructures, exchange of health information in compliance with applicable statutory and regulatory requirements
Approach
The nonprofit centers are designed to pair practices with a team of consultants, most of whom have clinical backgrounds and experience in Electronic Medical Record implementation.
The Regional Extension Centers will support health care providers with direct, individualized and on-site technical assistance in:
Selecting a certified EHR product that offers best value for the providers needs.
Achieving effective implementation of a certified EMR product.
Enhancing clinical and administrative workflows to optimally leverage an EMR systems potential to improve quality and value of care, including patient experience as well as outcome of care; and,
Observing and complying with applicable legal, regulatory, professional and ethical requirements to protect the integrity, privacy and security of patients health information.
If a practice is not yet using EMRs, the centers can walk it through the entire process of choosing a system, implementing it, mapping work flows and optimizing the system to help achieve meaningful use. For current EMR users, the centers can help create a plan for optimizing current systems to meet meaningful use guidelines.
Unlike many consultants, the centers do not select a system for a practice. Rather, they assist in evaluating, choosing and developing strategies right for each practice. Also they dont charge for their services, they do it more for better implementation of healthcare policies as there funding is received from the Federal Government.
The Extension Program expects all Regional Extension Centers to be operating at full capacity by the middle of 2010. The Regional Centers have partnered with local resources, such as community colleges, to promote integration of health and IT into the initial and ongoing training of healthcare professionals and supporting staff.
Finding a Regional Extension Center near you:
There is at least one REC covering each state. REC has online links from the HHS website to their own sites, where contact information can be found.
The funding pattern of the Federal government to RECs highlights that the government is not only committed to the implementation of the HITECH act but also has been providing funds for assisting providers. Providers can now rely on these RECs for implementation or any kind of technical assistance in the process of implementing EMR.
Regional Extension Centers could be those local technical assistance.They are nonprofit government funded organizations which are 70 in number across U.S. They have partnered with local resources, such as community colleges, to promote integration of health IT into the initial and ongoing training of health professionals and supporting staff as it can result in effective implementation of EMRs and quality improvement throughout a defined geographic area. They are designed to address unique community requirements and to support and accelerate provider efforts to become meaningful users of electronic health records.
Purpose:
Providers seeking to meaningfully use the Electronic Medical Record (EMR) face a variety of challenges. Some of their major queries are, who will help them in accessing their needs, selecting and implementing and establishing workflow changes to improve clinical performance.
The purpose of the RECs is to furnish assistance by way of education, outreach and technical assistance to help primary care providers in their geographic service areas to select, successfully implement and meaningfully use certified EHR technology to improve the quality and value of healthcare.
Regional Centers will also help providers achieve, through appropriate available infrastructures, exchange of health information in compliance with applicable statutory and regulatory requirements
Approach
The nonprofit centers are designed to pair practices with a team of consultants, most of whom have clinical backgrounds and experience in Electronic Medical Record implementation.
The Regional Extension Centers will support health care providers with direct, individualized and on-site technical assistance in:
Selecting a certified EHR product that offers best value for the providers needs.
Achieving effective implementation of a certified EMR product.
Enhancing clinical and administrative workflows to optimally leverage an EMR systems potential to improve quality and value of care, including patient experience as well as outcome of care; and,
Observing and complying with applicable legal, regulatory, professional and ethical requirements to protect the integrity, privacy and security of patients health information.
If a practice is not yet using EMRs, the centers can walk it through the entire process of choosing a system, implementing it, mapping work flows and optimizing the system to help achieve meaningful use. For current EMR users, the centers can help create a plan for optimizing current systems to meet meaningful use guidelines.
Unlike many consultants, the centers do not select a system for a practice. Rather, they assist in evaluating, choosing and developing strategies right for each practice. Also they dont charge for their services, they do it more for better implementation of healthcare policies as there funding is received from the Federal Government.
The Extension Program expects all Regional Extension Centers to be operating at full capacity by the middle of 2010. The Regional Centers have partnered with local resources, such as community colleges, to promote integration of health and IT into the initial and ongoing training of healthcare professionals and supporting staff.
Finding a Regional Extension Center near you:
There is at least one REC covering each state. REC has online links from the HHS website to their own sites, where contact information can be found.
The funding pattern of the Federal government to RECs highlights that the government is not only committed to the implementation of the HITECH act but also has been providing funds for assisting providers. Providers can now rely on these RECs for implementation or any kind of technical assistance in the process of implementing EMR.
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