New program will help Virginia primary care physicians become “meaningful users” of HIT

16 February 2010

Last week, Virginia’s grant application to create a statewide Health Information Technology Regional Extension Center was funded. The Virginia Health Quality Center, the federally-designated Quality Improvement Organization for Virginia, will serve as the lead organization on the effort, in partnership with the Center for Innovative Technology, Community Care Network of Virginia and the Medical Society of Virginia (MSV).

The grant funds of $12.4 million will allow the Center to provide low-cost access to electronic health record (EHR) systems and related technical support to approximately 2,300 primary care physicians across the commonwealth (including pediatricians and obstetricians/gynecologists). The terms of the grant require the center initially to focus its efforts on practices of 10 or fewer physicians, physician assistants, and/or nurse practitioners that serve disadvantaged populations.

A wide range of Virginia health care stakeholders supported the successful grant application, including the Virginia Department of Health and the Virginia Community College System; the Virginia chapters of the American Academy of Family Physicians, American College of Physicians, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, American Academy of Pediatrics, and Healthcare Information Management and Systems Society; the Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association, Community Healthcare Association, Rural Health Association, and Association of Health Plans; the Virginia Health Care Foundation.