Health Information Exchange Featured Article

January 20, 2012

OCHIN O-HITEC Reports Success of Its EHR Initiative in Oregon



The state of Oregon has emerged as a national leader in electronic health care technology adoption, thanks to the efforts of two organizations, OCHIN and O-HITEC. Utilizing a federal grant, the two organizations are helping health care providers purchase and more effectively use EHR technology to improve patient care as a part of a national health reform initiative.

OCHIN O-HITEC had received a federal grant back in 2009 for promoting the adoption of EHR in the state. In a recent press release OCHIN O-HITEC announced that they have surpassed the goal of their 2009 federal grant award by encouraging more than 2700 Oregon primary care providers to be a part of this program. These primary care providers are now receiving help for the effective implementation of HER technology under this program.

The OCHIN O-HITEC report revealed that 61 percent of the 2700 providers are already utilizing an EHR in a sophisticated manner.

Ten percent of the 61 percent have already achieved the first stage of a three stage federal process to meaningfully use an HER. The latter group now qualifies for federal incentives of up to $64K per Medicaid-eligible provider or up to $44K per Medicare-eligible provider. Many more providers will soon join the bandwagon, the report predicted.

The report pointed out, though not directly a part of the grant, the medical specialists in Oregon are also benefitting from membership in O-HITEC by receiving the same helpful EHR adoption and usage services.

OCHIN is a Portland, Oregon based national non-profit collaborative organization. The organization’s integrated HIT software products and services are used in community health clinics, mental health services, small practices and rural and critical access hospitals for the medically underserved.

Oregon's Health Information Technology Extension Center (O-HITEC) provides education, outreach, and assistance to facilitate successful implementation, and meaningful use of certified electronic health records. Its initiatives are supported by the grant from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) that is located within the Office of the Secretary for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

In addition to helping providers to adopt and implement an EHR, OCHIN O-HITEC is offering services to help all providers optimize EHR usage. Services include - online classes, one-on-one training, technical assistance, practice transformation and quality improvement. In the next 2 years, the plan is expected to reach 95 percent of all Oregon primary care providers that qualify under the grant.

In August 2011, OCHIN appointed Glenn Kulm as the VP of its Bend, Oregon operation. Kulm is to direct the Bend staff in sales, service and support of OCHIN products and services in addition to helping medical providers and clinics to achieve the federal EHR Meaningful Use requirements.

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Madhubanti Rudra is a contributing editor for HealthTechZone. To read more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.

Edited by Jennifer Russell
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