Update on PA’s Health IT Efforts

Last week leaders of Pennsylvania’s Health IT Initiative presented an update on their program’s efforts at a meeting of the Medical Assistance Advisory Committee.
The presentation focused on the distribution of funds made available through the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009.  The purpose of this funding is to promote the adoption, implementation, and meaningful use of electronic health records (EHRs) by health care providers.
The presentation reviewed the goals of the program; the payments made through the state’s Medicaid program to hospitals and qualified physicians so far; upcoming deadlines for pursuing additional financial support; problems encountered by the program and lessons learned; and progress to date toward building the state’s health information exchange.
See the presentation here.