The Doctor is Deployed - LLM Publications

In the OfficeSmaller Clinics AreFirst in Line forHITEC HelpBy Ruby Haughton-PittsIN FEBRUARY 2010, OCHIN, Inc.was awarded $13.2 million infederal stimulus funds that willsupport Oregon’s Health InformationTechnology Extension Center. Thecenter will be called O-HITEC withthe purpose of providing qualifyingOregon primary care providers witheducation, outreach, and technicalassistance to facilitate the successfulimplementation, and meaningful useof certified electronic health recordtechnology. All of these efforts willbe designed to improve the qualityand value of health care delivered toOregonians.O-HITEC will work collaborativelywith stakeholders throughout the stateto provide and coordinate technicalassistance and field support servicesto ensure that target providers meetthe federal definition for “meaningfuluse” of their EHR system—requiredto receive up to $64,000 in federalincentives per provider.Priority will be given to primarycareproviders (physicians and/or other health care professionalswith prescriptive privileges, suchas physician assistants and nursepractitioners) in any of the followingsettings:Individual and small group practices(ten or fewer professionals withprescriptive privileges) primarilyfocused on primary carePublic and Critical Access HospitalsCommunity Health Centers andRural Health ClinicsOther settings that predominantlyserve uninsured, underinsured, andmedically underserved populationsTo achieve its goals, O-HITEC willleverage the proven abilities of its twolead partners—OCHIN, the lead grantapplicant, and the Oregon Health &Sciences University, the foundationalpartner. They will also benefit fromthe combined experience of severalindependent provider associations,rural research networks, academicinstitutions, and technical partners.Partners OCHIN and OHSU were veryfortunate to have professionals in theirorganizations who were ready to serve Spring 2010 • 21