Feb. 16--QSource has been awarded $7.3 million by the federal government to establish Tennessee's center to help health care professionals get electronic health records.
The funds are part of a $1 billion national award from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to establish 70 such centers across the U.S. and expand the use of electronic health records.
These centers will help health care organizations, including doctors' offices and hospitals, buy the right hardware and software for electronic patient records, help train them to use it and give on-site technical support.
QSource's Regional Extension Center will also offer a group purchasing agreement to help lower the cost of electronic health records.
A nonprofit health care consulting organization, QSource employs 88 in Memphis, Nashville and Little Rock. The new contract is expected to nearly double the size of the company and enable it to add a Knoxville location.
QSource's Jennifer McAnally will serve as director of the extension center, which will be located in Nashville. But each grand division of the state will have a regional manager to oversee representatives who travel to health care facilities to help implement electronic health records.
"I think health information systems have become so big a part of the national discussion because health care expenditures are clearly out of control," McAnally said, noting that health care now accounts for about 16 percent of the gross domestic product.
"With these systems, we can reduce redundancy, cut down on the number of tests doctors run and, hopefully, bring down the overall cost of health care," she said.
In addition to QSource's money, Tennessee also received $11.7 million to help put in place health information systems.
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology said the $1 billion grant will help more than 100,000 hospitals and primary care physicians get the electronic health care technology. Also, some $225 million of the funds will go to train 15,000 for jobs in health care and information technology.
"These grant awards, the first of their kind, will help develop our electronic infrastructure and give doctors and other health care providers the support they need as they adopt this powerful technology," said Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius.
-- Toby Sells: 529-2742
QSource
What: Nonprofit health care consultant and Tennessee's Medicare quality improvement organization
Growth: Expanded reach in 2008 with Arkansas contract
Contact: (800) 528-2655
Web site: qsource.org
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