Beacon communities aim to use health information technology to transform the delivery of care.
The Beacon Community Program, authorized under the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), aims to demonstrate the potential for health information technology to enable local improvements in health care quality, cost efficiency, and population health. If successful, these communitywide efforts will yield important lessons that will assist other communities seeking to harness technology to achieve and sustain health care improvements. This paper highlights key programmatic details that reflect the meaningful use of technology in the fifteen Beacon communities. It describes the innovations they propose and provides insight into current and future challenges.
Maxson
Emily R
ER
Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, DC, USA. Emily.Maxson@hhs.gov
Jain
Sachin H
SH
McKethan
Aaron N
AN
Brammer
Craig
C
Buntin
Melinda Beeuwkes
MB
Cronin
Kelly
K
Mostashari
Farzad
F
Blumenthal
David
D
D057171:American Recovery and Reinvestment Act; D019985:Benchmarking; D003153:Community Health Services / Q000191:economics / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards; D018166:Health Care Reform; D006801:Humans; D008490:Medical Informatics / Q000458:organization & administration*; D017146:Models, Organizational; D009937:Organizational Objectives; D016730:Program Development; D012052:Reimbursement, Incentive; D014481:United States