In order to boost shares of around $20 billion in federal incentives received through the Centers of Medicare & Medicaid Services, doctors, nurse practitioners and other primary care providers from Ocean City to Garrett County in Maryland are starting the transition from paper to electronic health records, or EHRs.
According to a press release, CRISP is offering subsidized technical assistance to 1,000 primary care providers transitioning to EHRs by 2014. It is a private, non-profit organization whose mission is to offer safer, timelier, efficient, effective, equitable, patient-centered health care to all Marylanders through health information technology.
"Governor O'Malley and I have made implementing electronic health records one of our 15 strategic goals because health IT will help reduce costs while improving care for Marylanders," said Lt. Governor Anthony G. Brown, co-chair of Maryland's Health Care Reform Coordinating Council.
He added, "Right now, Maryland health care providers have a valuable opportunity to take advantage of federal dollars to transition to electronic health records, but they must act quickly as these programs are available on a first-come, first-served basis and slots are filling up."
Maryland Secretary of Health and Mental Hygiene Joshua M. Sharfstein, M.D. said that health IT will help improve the quality of care and reduce unnecessary costs, and Maryland is taking another important step forward."
A number of resources are available to the primary-care community through Maryland's Regional Extension Center for Health Information Technology (REC), a program administered by CRISP with support from the Maryland Health Care Commission.
“Our only mission is to serve the primary-care community in the area of health information technology," said Daniel Wilt, program director of the REC. "We'll work with any practice in Maryland to help them find the support they need to move from paper to electronic record keeping. Since the REC program currently has a limited capacity, we encourage practices to contact us today."
According to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, adoption of basic EHRs among primary care providers increased by nearly 50 percent from 2008 to 2010.
Mandira Srivastava is a HealthTechZone contributor. She works as a full-time writer, ghostwriter and blogger, and has more than two years of experience in print and Web media. She has also worked on company brochures, website content and product descriptions, as well as proofreading and editing content. To read more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.Edited by
Janice McDuffee
