ALREC is a program funded by a $9 million grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to help primary care providers in Alabama transition to Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems. ALREC offers education, outreach, and technical assistance as part of a national initiative to improve health care efficiency and patient outcomes while moving virtually all health care providers to the electronic age.
The site, geared toward providers, is part of ALREC’s strategy to provide their members with resources to improve patient care and maximize revenue. Questions regarding Meaningful Use and EHR arise for providers and their practices on a daily basis. The resources available include a section for the latest developments in Health IT and Meaningful Use, information and tools regarding specific areas of Meaningful Use and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) EHR Incentive Program, along with an interactive question section.
"ALREC and the new website will help facilitate the process of moving health care providers away from the use of paper patient records to electronic records, which enables physicians to have more rapid access to patient information and ultimately improve the quality of patient care," said Dr. Dan Roach, director of medical informatics at CHSI.
There are more than 2,000 members at the Alabama Regional Extension Center composed of primary care providers, specialists, and critical access and rural health hospitals. Of those members, ALREC has helped 70 percent meet Meaningful Use and receive more than $27 million in CMS EHR Incentive Program payments.
USA was one of 62 nonprofit organizations selected nationwide by the HHS to receive the Health Information Technology Regional Extension Center award. The grant supports one of the Center for Strategic Health Innovation’s principal missions, which is to lead innovation and research into patient-centric health care technologies.
