tnREC is Helping Tennessee and Primary Care Providers Build a Solid Foundation for EHR Adoption
Primary care providers have taken a major step in transforming health care into an integrated system that enhances the safety and quality of care for patients nationwide. As part of the national network of RECs, tnREC enrolled 1,372 primary care providers in Tennessee to make a smooth transition to their EHR goals.
Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) declares that the network of 62 Health IT Regional Extension Centers (RECs) achieved one of its first major milestones – gaining commitments from 100,000 primary care providers (PCPs) to adopt electronic health records in a meaningful way. Representing roughly one-third of all PCPs in the U.S., these 100,000 providers are building the foundation of a fully electronic healthcare system.
“This is an enormous milestone for America’s healthcare providers,” said Farzad Mostashari, MD, ScM, National Coordinator for Health Information Technology at ONC. “EHR-enabled providers are taking the first steps in transforming healthcare in the U.S., enhancing the safety and quality of care for patients. We would not have been able to accomplish this without the hard work of regional extension centers across the country.”
Primary care providers are the foundation of America’s healthcare system as they are often the patient’s first point of contact for healthcare and can be the center of the patient’s care network. EHR-enabled PCPs allow clinicians to share more accurate, complete information and better coordinate patient care across specialists, hospitals and other healthcare providers. As EHR technologies become more widely adopted by providers and reach their full potential, patients will be able to access their own health information and become empowered partners in their medical care.
“Having local technical assistance, guidance and information about best practices was invaluable,” said Dr. Daniel Black. “tnREC directed our practice’s attestation process, obtaining answers from our EHR vendor and providing much needed guidance about government requirements. As a result, the process was understandable and implementation did not negatively impact my productivity.”
tnREC has been using its broad, Health IT expertise to help PCPs, who face unique and complex challenges with EHR adoption, make a smooth transition to their EHR goals, since 2005 through the experience of its parent company, Qsource. Because all practices are different, tnREC gears its support to meet each practice’s specific needs – from identifying financial resources to negotiating with EHR vendors to redesigning office workflow.
“We have witnessed, firsthand, providers making significant strides in switching to an electronically-enabled practice,” said Jennifer McAnally, Director of tnREC. “The 1,372 providers who have partnered with our REC are leading the way for the Tennessee medical community in meeting the meaningful use EHR criteria, ultimately leading to improved patient health care.”
RECs are working with providers nationally in different practice settings to ensure widespread adoption of electronic health records. While RECs mainly assist primary care providers, they also work with specialists such as cardiologists. The regional extension centers leverage their broad health IT experience to provide assistance to clinicians working in practices of various sizes and in both urban and rural settings.
As part of its EHR Incentives Program, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services defined meaningful use criteria to ensure providers use a certified EHR system to:
- Exchange health information as part of coordinated care
- Report clinical quality care measures
- Utilize electronic medical services such as e-prescribing
