Southern Illinois Healthcare Foundation has been designated as a satellite office
for the Illinois Health Information Technology Regional Extension Center (IL-HITREC)
for the southern portion of Illinois. The primary purpose of the regional extension
center is to assist primary care physicians associated with smaller clinical practices,
federally qualified health centers, and rural and critical access hospitals with
the selection and implementation of certified electronic health record (EHR)systems.
Creation of the regional extension centers is part of a federal effort to accelerate
the adoption of electronic health records nationwide. Funded by economic stimulus
bill passed last spring (the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) $19 billion
has been allocated to facilitate those efforts, including money to establish 70
regional extension centers nationwide. These centers are funded through an award
from the Office of the National Coordinator, Department of Health and Human Services
(Grant 90RC0023/01)
IL-HITREC is headquartered at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb and delivers
services through a system of satellite offices in northwestern Illinois, suburban
Chicago, central Illinois, and southern Illinois. SIHF has been selected as a host
site for IL-HITREC and is responsible for working with physicians in southern Illinois.
IL-HITREC is a consortium partners that include: Illinois Critical Access Hospital
Association, Illinois Hospital Association, Illinois Public Health Institute, Illinois
State University, Northern Illinois Physicians for Connectivity, Northern Illinois
University, Metropolitan Chicago Healthcare Council, the University of Illinois
at Chicago, Southern Illinois Healthcare Foundation, Quality Quest for Health of
Illinois.
As an IL-HITREC satellite office, Southern Illinois Healthcare Foundation assists
medical practices by:
- Educating physicians about the benefits of electronic health records;
- Helping them identify certified products that will best meet their needs;
- Connecting them with vendors to install and implement the systems;
- Assisting them in getting those systems up and running
- Helping physicians keep up to date on best practices related to issues like clinical
decision support, protecting patient confidentiality and best use of electronic
health records software.
Physicians will be able to utilize IL-HITREC’s services at minimal cost. The grant
money will cover 90 percent of this expense. Physicians will also be eligible for
Medicare and Medicaid incentive programs for implementing electronic medical records
programs that meet meaningful use standards. Achieving this meaningful use goal
will protect physicians from reduced Medicare reimbursement projected to kick-in
in 2014.
IL-HITREC works primarily with priority care providers - family practitioners, doctors
of internal medicine, pediatricians and obstetricians who serve Medicare /Medicaid
patients and other underserved populations. Those physicians provide about 80 percent
of the nation’s healthcare, but only about 20 percent currently utilize electronic
health records systems. Visit www.ILHITREC.org
for more information.
The counties covered in the southern Illinois REC region include: Alexander, Bond,
Calhoun, Clark, Clay, Clinton, Crawford, Cumberland, Edwards, Effingham, Fayette,
Franklin, Gallatin, Greene, Hamilton, Harding, Jackson, Jasper, Jefferson, Jersey,
Johnson, Lawrence, Macoupin, Madison, Marion, Massac, Monroe, Montgomery, Perry,
Pope, Pulaski, Randolph, Richland, Saline, St. Clair, Union, Wabash, Washington,
Wayne, White, and Williamson.
To find out if your practice qualifies, please complete the following survey
Complete the Qualification
Survey online
Download the Qualification Survey (pdf)
For more information, please contact:
Steve Lawrence, (618) 332-0694, slawrence@sihf.org
Tom Daengsurisri, (618) 332-0694, tdaengsurisri@sihf.org
Please visit Illinois HITREC website at
View
the US Department of Health & Human Services REC grant award