The national push for the adoption of electronic medical records has focused primarily on efforts by the federal government to get providers across the country involved. However, there are many state-level initiatives currently underway that may also prove to have a major influence over a medical professional's decision to transition to an electronic form of record keeping.
For example, the Chesapeake Regional Information System for our Patients (CHIPS), Maryland's Regional Extension Center, recently announced that it enrolled its 1,000th healthcare provider to participate in the electronic health records incentive program.
Regional Extension Centers were set up with funds from the federal government but operate relatively independently. Their main purpose is to guide providers through the adoption of electronic health records and the various regulations of the incentive program. The announcement that Maryland's center has enrolled 1,000 medical professionals indicates that its officials have made tremendous strides in convincing the community of the benefits of the technology.
Lieutenant Governor Anthony Brown said in a news release that the milestone reflects the tremendous amount of work that state officials put in alongside CHIPS to encourage a greater number of healthcare providers to transition to electronic health records. He said he believes this could have many benefits for the local healthcare system.
"Implementing health information technology will help reduce costs while improving quality and streamlining care for all Marylanders," he said. "By bringing the public and private sectors together and working closely with partners like MedChi to educate providers, Maryland is once again leading the way in health care innovation."
However, deploying technology is only one side of the equation. Many experts believe that the full benefits of electronic health records will not be realized until a majority of providers are sharing information with each other across interconnected networks. This is where state efforts to produce health information exchanges come in.
One such network is beginning to take shape in North Dakota. Healthcare IT News reports that the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT recently gave the state approval to proceed with plans for its own health information exchange network.
State officials said that they believe the approval to set up the network will improve access to care while producing gains in quality and affordability.
"We are confident the strategic and operational plan we developed in partnership puts North Dakota on course for successful HIE implementation and rapid sustainability," Patti Dodgen, the CEO of the technology company Helix, which is helping the state set up the system, told the news source.