The ONC announced the final two Regional Extension Centers to support Orange County, CA, and the state of New Hampshire. CalOptima Foundation was awarded $4,662,426 for Orange County and Massachusetts eHealth Collaborative was awarded $5,105,495 to cover New Hampshire. Although a lot of miss information out there, the RECs do not actually receive this grant money until actual physicians enter the REC programs for assistance. The money is earned by the RECs in three stages, signing up, implementation, and finally becoming meaningful users. So for those of you saying “we could have used this money in a better way”, it just might happen. If the RECs don’t earn the grant money, where will it go?
Under HITECH, $677 million is allocated to support a nationwide system of RECs that cover every geographic region of the United States to ensure plenty of support to health care providers in communities across the country. Awards made:
- February 2010: $375 million awarded to establish 32 RECs
- April 2010: $267 million awarded to establish an additional 28 RECs
- September 10, 2010: nearly $20 million in additional funding awarded to 46 existing RECs to support critical access and rural hospitals in their efforts to adopt certified EHR technology
- September 28, 2010: additional funding awarded to establish two new RECs and expand coverage areas with two existing Florida RECs.
Read more on the ONC HIT Extension Program.