Progress Toward EHR Meaningful Use

More than 1,350 providers served

The Office of the National Coordinator has made some major changes to the federal Health Information Technology (HIT) Regional Extension Center program. These changes impact how the Regional Extension Assistance Center for HIT (REACH) works with providers in Minnesota and North Dakota, to achieve meaningful use. The changes :

• Expand provider eligibility
• Extend recruiting through January 2012
• Continue REACH work with providers on achieving meaningful use of their EHRs through 2013. Clients must have a signed contract by January 2012
• Increase funding for critical access and rural hospitals with fewer than 50 beds from $12,000 to $18,000 per hospital

REACH ranks 13th among all 62 regional HIT extension centers across the nation for recruitment achievement regarding the number of priority primary care providers engaged in the program. It ranks second regarding the number of critical access hospitals engaged.

More than 1,350 Minnesota and North Dakota providers are directly benefitting from REACH services, including 295 primary clinic locations and 62 critical access hospitals; 35% and 51% respectively of its client recruitment goals. Nationally, 60,000 providers are working with regional extension centers. As a partner in Key Health Alliance, Stratis Health co-leads REACH along with the National Rural Health Resource Center, and The College of St. Scholastica.