Arizona Regional Extension Center

Meaningful Use Final Rule Released July 13th! 
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued the Meaningful Use Final Rule for electronic health records (EHRs).    

Some interesting changes to note in the final rule:
-More consistent message between CMS programs
-Easier calculations of measures
-Greater flexibility in achieving objectives

Please see the right-hand side of this page to download the final rule as well as other valuable links and information. To learn more about the Arizona Regional Extension Center and Meaningful Use, please see the AzHeC Update issued July 13th.

Regional Extension Center Update - June 2010
To learn more about the overall program strategy for the Arizona Regional Extension Center, please take a look at a recent eHI presentation by Program Director Melissa Rutala. Be sure to email us at ehr@azhec.org if you'd like to receive Regional Extension Center updates, beginning soon! (Please include your name, title, organization, address, phone and email.) 

What is the Arizona Regional Extension Center?
In 2009 Federal funds made available through the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, a component of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), created an unprecedented investment in and opportunity for health information technology (HIT) in the U.S. Through ARRA, $634 million was made available to non-profit organizations to establish HIT Regional Extension Centers nationwide to assist primary care healthcare providers in adopting and becoming meaningful users of EHR systems. Within Arizona, Arizona Health-e Connection (AzHeC) was awarded funding to develop a Regional Extension Center program to serve Arizona's healthcare providers. The program is led by Arizona Health-e Connection in collaboration with Arizona State University's Department of Biomedical Informatics, Health Services Advisory Group and the Purchasing & Assistance Collaborative for Electronic Health Records (PACeHR).

What Can Arizona's Regional Extension Center Do for Healthcare Providersin Arizona?
The Regional Extension Center will serve as a neutral source for credible EHR and HIT information-something much needed as healthcare providers seek to navigate EHR options and select vendors that meet Federal Meaningful Use requirements. It will also strive to fully identify and provide solutions to the challenges Arizona healthcare providers face in adopting EHR systems. Lastly, the Regional Extension Center will provide critical services to EHR adoption. (Please see the Program Overview or Issue Paper available to download on the right-hand side of this page for details on services offered.)

How Will the Arizona Regional Extension Center Work?
The program is designed to provide a turnkey process for providers in Arizona to adopt and achieve Meaningful Use of electronic health records.

Who is Eligible for Arizona Regional Extension Center Services?
Any Arizona healthcare provider is eligible for Regional Extension Center services, which will be provided at reasonable, needs-based fees. However, only providers that meet federal "priority primary care provider" qualification standards will be eligible to receive discounted services due to the federal subsidies provided to the program. Among Arizona's estimated 6,700 primary care providers, AzHeC estimates 95 percent match the federal priority primary care provider" criteria. (Please see the Program Overview or Issue Paper available to download on the right-hand side of this page for eligibility criteria details.)

Arizona Health-e Connection acknowledges the Office of the National Coordinator, Department of Health and Human Services for its support of this program, which is funded under award number 90RC0035/01.