New Round Of Health IT Grants
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius Tuesday announced her agency has awarded another round of health information technology grants worth $267 million to provide assistance to health providers as they move to adopt health IT.
The latest round of grants will go to 28 nonprofit organizations to help establish health IT regional extension centers, according to a Health and Human Services Department statement. The centers are aimed at providing health professionals with a local resource to obtain technical assistance, guidance and information on best practices and to help assist in the adoption of electronic health records. The awards are part of the $19 billion for health IT included in last year's economic stimulus package.
The department awarded grants in February to 32 other nonprofits to set up health IT regional centers. Tuesday's announcement brings the total number of centers to 60. The department said these new centers will provide assistance to 100,000 primary care providers and hospitals within two years. The department also announced that all 60 groups may also apply for supplemental awards, worth a total of $25 million, to assist smaller hospitals, those with 50 beds or less.
The latest grant awards "represent our ongoing commitment to make sure that health providers have the necessary support within their communities to maximize the use of health IT to improve the care they provide to their patients," Sebelius said.
Join the Discussion
The National Journal Group has the right (but not the obligation) to monitor the comments and to remove any materials it deems inappropriate.
Comments powered by Disqus