Readiness for meaningful use of health information technology and patient centered medical home recognition survey results.
OBJECTIVE
Determine the factors that impact HIT use and MU readiness for community health centers (CHCs).


BACKGROUND
The HITECH Act allocates funds to Medicaid and Medicare providers to encourage the adoption of electronic health records (EHR), in an effort to improve health care quality and patient outcomes, and to reduce health care costs.


METHODS
We surveyed CHCs on their Readiness for Meaningful Use (MU) of Health Information Technology (HIT) and Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH) Recognition, then we combined responses with 2009 Uniform Data System data to determine which factors impact use of HIT and MU readiness.


RESULTS
Nearly 70% of CHCs had full or partial EHR adoption at the time of survey. Results are presented for centers with EHR adoption, by the length of time that their EHR systems have been in operation.
George Washington University-Department of Health Policy.
Peter
P
Shin
George Washington University-Department of Health Policy.
Jessica
J
Sharac
D003151:Community Health Centers / Q000458:organization & administration; D003625:Data Collection; D057286:Electronic Health Records / Q000458:organization & administration; D006801:Humans; D062527:Meaningful Use / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008490:Medical Informatics / Q000458:organization & administration*; D018802:Patient-Centered Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D014481:United States
Information Technology in Health; Meaningful Use; community health centers