May 4--WASHINGTON -- A new federal program will track the treatment of diabetics in three Utah counties in a bid to spur greater use of electronic health records, according to a White House official.
Vice President Joe Biden and Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius are slated to announce the $15.8 million pilot program Tuesday as part of a broader effort they have dubbed "Beacon Communities."
The pilot programs, funded by $220 million in economic stimulus money, will use technology to coordinate specific types of medical care in 15 locations.
The Obama administration picked the companies from 130 applicants.
HealthInsight will run the program in Salt Lake, Tooele and Summit counties, working in coordination with Intermountain Healthcare.
Their plan is to assist 1,000 medical providers who will use a computer program to track diabetes management, with an eye on ethnic and socioeconomic health disparities.
They believe the effort will reduce hospitalizations.
Beacon Communities is part of the administration's broader $2 billion electronic health records effort funded through the Recovery Act.
This February, the Health and Human Services Department named HealthInsight the regional extension center in Utah, which coordinates bonus payments for medical professionals that adopt electronic health records.
HealthInsight is a private nonprofit that works in Nevada
and Utah.
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