Health Information Technology Spotlight (HITS)
What's New
Virginia Health IT Update for 10/20/2009:
On February 17, 2009, the President signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). This statute includes The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act of 2009 (the HITECH Act) that sets forth a plan for advancing the appropriate use of health information technology to improve quality of care and establish a foundation for health care reform. The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) was statutorily created by the HITECH Act within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). ONC serves as the principal federal entity charged with coordinating the overall effort to implement a nationwide health information technology infrastructure that allows for the electronic use and exchange of health information.The HITECH Act authorizes the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to administer incentives to eligible professionals (EPs) and hospitals for meaningful use of electronic health records (EHRs). These incentives are anticipated to drive adoption of EHRs needed to reach the goal of all Americans having secure EHRs. To achieve the vision of a transformed health system that health information technology (HIT) can facilitate, there are three critical short-term prerequisites:
- Clinicians and hospitals must acquire and implement certified EHRs in a way that fully integrates these tools into the care delivery process;
- Technical, legal, and financial supports are needed to enable information to flow securely to wherever it is needed to support health care and population health; and,
- A skilled workforce needs to support the adoption of EHRs, information exchange across health care providers and public health authorities, and the redesign of work-flows within health care settings to gain the quality and efficiency benefits of EHRs, while maintaining individual privacy and security.
Priority Programs: The HITECH Act also authorizes the establishment of several new grant programs that will provide resources to address these prerequisites. Together, they are intended to facilitate the adoption and use of EHRs by providing technical assistance, the capacity to exchange health information, and the availability of trained professionals to support these activities. These priority grant programs are:
Health Information Technology Extension Program (Extension Program), authorized by Section 3012 of the Public Health Service Act (PHSA) as amended by ARRA - will establish a collaborative consortium of Health Information Technology Regional Extension Centers (Regional Centers) facilitated by the national Health Information Technology Research Center (HITRC). The Extension Program will offer providers across the nation technical assistance in the selection, acquisition, implementation, and meaningful use of an EHR to improve health care quality and outcomes.Click here for information on Virginia's proposal.
State Grants to Promote Health Information Technology (State Health Information Exchange Cooperative Agreements Program), authorized by Section 3013 of the PHSA as amended by ARRA - to promote health information exchange (HIE) that will advance mechanisms for information sharing across the health care system. Click here for information on Virginia's proposal.
Information Technology Professionals in Health Care (Workforce Program), authorized by Section 3016 of the PHSA as amended by ARRA - to fund the training and development of a workforce that will meet short-term HITECH Act programmatic needs.
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