Physicians Foundation Awards Nearly $2 Million in Health Information Technology Grants

Seeks to ensure national move to digital health records won't disrupt doctor-patient relationship

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Sep 14, 2010, 11:45 ET

BOSTON, Sept. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- The Physicians Foundation, a national organization that supports the interests of physicians and their patients, today announced that it has awarded 15 individual grants in 13 states totaling $1,983,632 for numerous Health Information Technology projects that will promote improvements in the physicians' practice environment and support high quality patient care. Foundation spokespeople said the grants are particularly relevant given the national push toward digital health records, and that they hope to "shape how those changes are implemented in the months and years ahead."

HIT is broadly defined as the technical aspect of managing health information systems, such as the use of electronic health records. The Foundation has sought to promote the use of new technology among physicians while working to overcome obstacles to implementing new technology, and ensuring that HIT is enacted in a manner that reduces disruption of the doctor-patient relationship.

"Our country's healthcare work force is already overworked, and as the government encourages a large scale move to digital records, that transition is going to have a significant impact on practicing physicians," said Foundation Board Member Dr. Ripley Hollister. "The Foundation has made HIT a specific focus, because it wants to ensure that the move to digital records and the use of other technologies is made in a constructive, positive fashion – specifically, one that preserves and supports the doctor-patient relationship."

Projects receiving Foundation support in this round of grants include:

"Meaningful Use Achievement Toolkit," a program to develop and disseminate tools that assist physicians with achieving meaningful use of certified electronic record systems.
"HIT in Practice," a program to develop a series of supports and resources for implementation of electronic health records in small practices.
Grants for assisting physicians in various states with implementing digital health records.

Additional information about specific grants is available upon request.

The HIT grants are part of a larger grant making effort this year by the Physicians Foundation, totaling more than $4.2 million.

"Our fundamental goal in making these grants was simple," said Lou Goodman, PhD, President. "We want to help improve the practice environment for physicians so that they can more easily do what matters most to them: spend time taking care of patients."

The Physicians Foundation is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that seeks to advance the work of practicing physicians and to improve the quality of healthcare for all Americans. The Foundation is unique in its commitment to working with physicians nationwide to create a more efficient and equitable healthcare system. It pursues its mission through a variety of activities including grantmaking, research and policy studies. Since 2005, The Foundation has awarded numerous multi-year grants. Additional information about The Physicians Foundation is available online at www.physiciansfoundation.org.

SOURCE The Physicians Foundation