Regional Extension Centers arose out of the challenges small providers face; lack of resources and/or expertise. Thus, the small providers fail in their efforts to optimize and improve the quality of care they provide their patients. With their essential role in the national health care delivery network, these providers serve as the home base for preventive care. The small health providers also link the wider health care system such as hospitals and specialists. To leverage local expertise, the Regional Extension Centers were designed to provide practical, tailor made support to meet the needs of the local health care providers in a way that is synergistic and non-biased with the private sectors institutions (HealthIT, 2014).
According to Hartzband,
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Achieving stage 1 meaningful use
The milestone system also ensured consistent results across RECs while encouraging creativity in the methods and means employed by a REC to best support their provider population (HealthIT, 2014).
Objectives of RECs
Under the HITECH Act of 2009, the specific objectives of the RECs are:
• Provide training and support services to assist in EHR adoption.
• Offer information and guidance with EHR implementation (but not to carry out such an implementation).
• Give other technical assistance as needed in the implementation of health IT and its proper use as a meaningful way to improve care.
• Outreach and education and EHR support (working with vendors but also help health care providers choose a certified EHR system (Hartzband, 2015).
RECs offer a wide array of valuable services, which may include:
• RECs provide a new patient-centered service line to help providers across the country adopt and implement new patient and family engagement tools strategies and tools. Health providers interested in implementing and optimizing health IT that is patient centered use available REC resources and
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This interoperability weave is crucial in facilitating communication across provider organizations involved in patient care through secure and reliable information exchange.
• RECs provide support for privacy and security of health information. Ensuring privacy and security is vital in building trust in order to realize the potential benefits of health information exchange. If there are perceived or actual risks in the accuracy and completeness of health information, individual’s willingness to disclose necessary health information may be tampered with.
• Assistance in workflow redesign and analysis
• Training in EHR: selection, implementation, support, project management and financial consultation.
• Connections to state and national health information exchange efforts
• Continuous technical assistance in implementing Health IT and using it in a meaningful way to improve care (HealthIT, 2014).
• Analysis of Meaningful Use