HRSA grants will support EMRs at safety-net clinics

By Neil Versel

The Health Resources and Services Administration is allocating some of its $2 billion in federal stimulus funding to help safety-net healthcare providers purchase EMRs and other health IT. This week, the HHS agency awarded $27.8 million in grants to 27 organizations that serve low-income and uninsured populations. The majority of the money–$22.6 million, covering 18 grants–will go toward EMR implementation projects. Another five of the grants are meant to help organizations that already have EMRs use their systems to improve patient outcomes, while others will go toward health information exchange.

“The grants make sure that our most vulnerable citizens will benefit from health information technology,” national health IT coordinator Dr. David Blumenthal says. The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology will coordinate the awards alongside the $1.2 billion ONC is allocating to state-level health information exchange and health IT extension centers.

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http://www.fierceemr.com/story/hrsa-grants-will-support-emrs-safety-net-clinics/2009-10-01#ixzz0TiERtHS7