U.S. Government Provides $1.2B in Recovery Funds to Aid Transition to Electronic Medical Records

The U.S. government is offering grants worth nearly $1.2 billion to help hospitals and health care providers “implement and use electronic health records,” Vice President Joe Biden announced last week.

"With electronic health records, we are making health care safer, we’re making it more efficient, we’re making you healthier and we’re saving money along the way," said Vice President Biden. "These are four necessities we need for healthcare in the 21st-century."

Electronic health records are fundamental to helping reduce medical errors and ensure that health care is efficient, according to a press release on the grants. The available awards include $598 million to establish Health Information Technology Regional Extension Centers, which will provide training for hospitals and clinicians. This includes assistance with selection, acquisition and implementation.

An additional $564 million in grants will be distributed to states and Qualified State Designated Entities, “to support the development of mechanisms for information sharing within an emerging nationwide system of networks.”

The government will award the grants on a rolling basis, with the first issued next year. More information on how to apply for the grants is available at http://HealthIT.HHS.gov.

"With these programs, we begin the process of creating a national, private and secure electronic health information system. The grants are designed to help doctors and hospitals acquire electronic health records and use them in meaningful ways to improve the health of patients and reduce waste and inefficiency," said Dr. David Blumenthal, National Coordinator for Health Information Technology.