government
Meaningful use EMR pilots announced
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted May 10, 2010
The Obama administration on May 4 named 15 communities that will serve as federally funded pilot programs for achieving meaningful use of electronic medical records and showing measurable improvements in quality through health information technology.
The selected "beacon" communities will use health IT to bring together physicians, hospitals, health programs and patients to design new ways to boost quality and efficiency. Each beacon community will have its own goals. For example, the federal award for Tulsa, Okla., will enable 1,600 physicians to participate in a new community-wide health information system focused on monitoring and improving transitions for patients who change care settings.
Other communities will use their federal awards to foster better blood pressure control for patients with diabetes and hypertension, care coordination improvements, chronic disease management, and reductions in preventable emergency department visits.
A total of $220 million in beacon community awards were announced. The funds come from the 2009 economic stimulus package. A list of beacon communities and their funding levels is available online (link).
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2010/05/10/gvbf0510.htm.
