800th Colorado Health Care Provider Signs-Up for EHR and 'Meaningful Use' Support from CO-REC

DENVER, Oct. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- With its 800th provider letter of agreement signed, the Colorado Regional Extension Center (CO-REC) announced today that it is one-third of its way to reaching its goal of signing-up a total of 2,295 primary care providers to receive support implementing and effectively using Electronic Health Records (EHRs).

CO-REC is an initiative of seven organizations led by CORHIO, the Colorado Regional Health Information Organization. CO-REC reached the 800-provider milestone in less than three months time. This exceeded the organization's goal to sign-up 600 providers in six months.

The CO-REC initiative goes beyond helping primary care providers implement certified EHR technology, it also provides in-depth guidance on how to optimize office processes to maximize the benefits of electronic systems and improve the quality of patient care. The CO-REC initiative additionally helps providers meet federal guidelines that help them qualify for federal 'Meaningful Use' reimbursements up to $63,750 each.

"CO-REC and its six partner organizations are working aggressively to ensure Colorado maintains its reputation as being a leader in health care technology and innovation," said Robyn Leone, Director of CO-REC. "I want to thank our partner organizations for their dedication to getting Colorado health care providers the support they need to successfully implement electronic health records systems and to achieve meaningful use of these systems."

The six community partners that are part of the CO-REC include the Colorado Community Managed Care Network, Colorado Foundation for Medical Care, Colorado Rural Health Center and ClinicNET, Health TeamWorks, Physician Health Partners and Quality Health Network.

"The board of directors and staff of the Colorado Medical Society deeply appreciate CO-REC's mission of helping provide higher quality, better coordinated care through health information technology," said Alfred Gilchrist, CEO for the Colorado Medical Society, the state's largest physician organization.  "Colorado patients and physicians are incredibly fortunate to have CO-REC working on their behalf."

CO-REC is one of 62 Regional Extension Centers around the country designated to offer health care providers technical assistance, guidance and information on best practices to support and accelerate health care provider efforts to become meaningful users of EHRs.

Unlike regional extension centers in most other states, CO-REC does not charge health care providers for its consulting services. Leone credited its cost structure as being one reason CO-REC has quickly gained the participation of so many Colorado healthcare providers.

CO-REC is pursuing a comprehensive strategy to support practices and small, rural hospitals to achieve meaningful use by providing services, at no charge, that help providers:

• Effectively select, implement and meaningfully use an EHR.
• Negotiate purchases of, and pricing for, EHRs including standard interfaces.
• Progress towards meaningful use of an existing EHR.
• Optimize practice workflow to ensure improvements in the quality of care.
• Understand and negotiate favorable EHR contract language regarding health information exchange (HIE) interfaces before selection of an EHR so that the provider can position itself to take full advantage of interoperability, and at lower costs.
• Protect the integrity, privacy and security of patients' health records.
• Meet the qualifications for incentive payments from Medicaid or Medicare.

About CORHIO and CO-REC

CORHIO is dedicated to improving health care quality for all Coloradans through health information exchange (HIE). As the state designated entity for HIE, CORHIO collaborates with health care stakeholders including physicians, hospitals, clinics, public health, long-term care, laboratories, health plans and patients to develop secure systems and processes for sharing clinical information. CO-REC, a CORHIO initiative with six other organizations, assists primary care providers in adopting, implementing and becoming meaningful users of electronic health record (EHR) systems. CORHIO is a not-for-profit supported by grants from The Colorado Health Foundation and from federal ARRA HITECH funds. For more information about CORHIO, please visit www.corhio.org.

SOURCE CORHIO