Parker Healthcare Consulting Prepares for ARRA Regional Extension Contracts

Sept. 26, 2009 - PRLog -- On February 17, 2009, the President signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). Title XIII of Division A and Title IV of Division B of ARRA, together cited as the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH Act), include provisions to promote meaningful use of health information technology to improve the quality and value of American health care. The HITECH Act also established the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as the principal federal entity responsible for coordinating the effort to implement a nationwide health information technology (health IT) infrastructure that allows for the use and exchange of electronic health information in electronic format.

Parker Healthcare Consulting, specializing in healthcare informatics, has prepared for the ARRA Regional Extension Center program, forecasted to begin January 2010. Regional Extension Centers will offer assistance with clinical adoption, guidance, education and training on best practices to support and accelerate health care providers’ efforts to become meaningful users of Electronic Health Records (EHRs). The Extension Program will establish approximately 70 Regional Centers, each serving a defined geographic area. The Regional Centers will support at least 100,000 primary care providers in achieving meaningful use of EHRs and enabling nationwide health information exchange.

The Extension Program also establishes a HITRC, funded separately, which will gather relevant information on effective practices from a wide variety of sources across the country and help the Regional Centers collaborate with one another and with relevant stakeholders to identify and share best practices in EHR adoption, effective use, and provider support.

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Our associates recognize the need for healthcare organizations to keep up with a continuously changing healthcare Information technology market. Regulatory and governing bodies, such as The Joint Commission, CCHIT, ONC, CMS and eHealthInitiative are working tirelessly to ensure quality, interoperability and enhanced patient safety and reporting capabilities are transparent within Electronic Health Records.

Parker Healthcare Consulting specializes in IT project management, clinical adoption, strategy, implementation and clinician training for organizations implementing electronic health records. All of our associates are experienced clinicians who have worked in various roles within the healthcare IT market.

Let our Certified Professionals in Healthcare Information Technology guide your organization to improve regulatory compliance, patient safety and clinician satisfaction, while meeting appropriate ONC guidelines for maximum ARRA benefits!