OCHIN, a subsidiary of O-HITEC and non-profit provider of health information technology and services for community based health clinics for medically underserved, announced its agreement with Oregon Rural Hospital Healthcare Quality Network (ORHQN) to provide electronic health record (EHR) to Oregon's 25 Critical Access Hospitals in line with the federal requirement.

OCHIN/O-HITEC, which is responsible as Oregon's federal grantee, will be assisting Oregon's rural hospitals and health care providers to install certified EHR systems to improve quality and reduce the cost of patient services.

“Given our mission to continuously improve the quality of care available to rural communities throughout our State, we are pleased to partner with O-HITEC in providing such expertise and help for member hospitals to become meaningful users of Electronic Health Records,” said William McMillan, president of ORHQN and CEO of Curry General Hospital, in a statement.

The federal grant enables O-HITEC to offer over a dozen free and low-cost services that include Meaningful Use assessments, EHR vendor selection and installation assistance, on-site audits, education and training, and HIPAA privacy and security assistance.

The term of the ORHQN agreement is for one year beginning April 1st. As per the agreement, all facilities will be able to access services without charge through March 2012.

“O-HITEC is pleased to support ORHQN and we look forward to a partnership that will see all of their hospitals meet the federal requirements for Meaningful Use,” said Clayton Gillett, executive director of O-HITEC.

ORHQN and OCHIN worked on a solution that would help both non-profits assist network hospitals with tools and support services to improve patient care and reduce costs. ORHQN applied their Small Rural Hospital Improvement Grant Program (SHIP) funds as a match for a federal grant program that originated in the ARRA Stimulus Package.

Recently, OCHIN announced that it joined hands with Allscripts, a provider of technologies essential to creating a connected community of health. The agreement is for providing an Electronic Health Record for Oregon physicians.

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