Regional Extension Centers List

The HIT Regional Extension Centers were established as part of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, (Title IV in Division B of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) authorizing financial incentives to Medicare and Medicaid providers’ who achieve meaningful use of certified electronic health record (EHR) technology and are funded through as award from the Office of the National Coordinator, Department of Health and Human Services.

The purpose of the Regional Extension Centers (REC) is to provide education, outreach, and technical assistance to priority primary care providers in their region to assist them in selecting, successfully implementing, and achieving meaningful use of certified EHR products.

The HIT Regional Extension Center Program seeks to provide technical assistance, guidance, and information on best practices to support and accelerate health care providers’ efforts to become meaningful users of EHRs. A national HIT Research Center (HITRC) was established to gather information on effective practices and to help the RECs work with one another to identify and share best practices in EHR adoption, meaningful use, and provider support.

The RECs are to:

• provide training and support services to assist doctors and other providers in adopting EHRs
• offer information and guidance to help with EHR implementation
• provide technical assistance as needed

The goal of the program is to provide outreach and support services to at least 100,000 primary care providers within two years. Additional supplemental funding was provided to RECs who applied to provide support to eligible CAHs and rural hospitals in their efforts to adopt certified EHR technology.

Each REC is choosing a slightly different approach to technical support and the providers it serves.

The Regional Extension Centers (RECs) will offer technical assistance, guidance, and information to support and accelerate health care providers’ efforts to become meaningful users of Electronic Health Records (EHRs). This list represents the final 62 awarded centers.

• Alaska – Alaska Regional Extension Center (Alaska eHealth Network)
• Alabama – Alabama Regional Extension Center (ALREC) (University of South Alabama)
• Arizona – Arizona Regional Extension Center (Arizona Health-e Connection)
• Arkansas – HITArkansas (Arkansas Foundation For Medical Care)
• California Regional Extension Centers
  • Oakland – CalHIPSO (Northern California Regional Extension Center)
  • Southern California – Southern California Regional Extension Center
  • Los Angeles – Local Initiative Health Authority for Los Angeles County
  • Orange County – CalOptima Regional Extension Center (COREC) – (CalOptima Foundation)
• Colorado – CORHIO (Colorado Regional Health Information Organization)
• Connecticut – Connecticut Regional Extension Center (eHealthConnecticut)
• Delaware – Delaware Regional Extension Center (Quality Insights of Delaware, Inc.)
• Florida Regional Extension Centers
  • Miami – South Florida REC (Health Choice Network, Inc.)
  • Orlando – University of Central Florida
  • St. Petersburg – Community Health Centers Alliance, Inc.
  • Tampa – University of South Florida (South Florida Regional Extension Center)
• Georgia – Morehouse School of Medicine, Inc.
• Hawaii – Hawaii Health Information Exchange
• Idaho – WIREC (Qualis Health), Idaho & Washington
• Illinois – IL-HITEC (Northern Illinois University)
• Illinois – CHITREC (Northwestern University)
• Indiana – I-HITEC (Purdue University)
• Iowa – Iowa Foundation for Medical Care
• Kanas – aHIT (Kansas Foundation for Medical Care Inc.)
• Kentucky – University of Kentucky Research Foundation
• Louisiana – Louisiana Health Care Quality Forum, Baton Rouge
• Maine – HealthInfoNet
• Maryland – Chesapeake Regional Information System for our Patients
• Massachusetts – Massachusetts eHealth Institute (Massachusetts Technology Park Cooperation)
• Michigan – M-CEITA (Altarum Institute)
• Minnesota – REACH (Key Health Alliance – Stratis Health), Minnesota – North Dakota
• Mississippi – eQHealth Solutions, Inc.
• Missouri – The Curators of the University of Missouri
• Montana – Mountain-Pacific Quality Health Foundation
• Nebraska – Wide River Technology Extension Center (CIMRO of Nebraska)
• New Hampshire – New Hampshire Regional Extension Center – (Massachusetts eHealth Collaborative)
• New Jersey – New Jersey Regional Extension Center (New Jersey Institute of Technology)
• New Mexico – New Mexico Health Information Technology Regional Extension Center (LCF Research)
• New York – New York eHealth Collaborative Regional Extension Center (NYeCREC) (New York eHealth Collaborative (NYeC))
• New York – Fund for Public Health in New York
• North Carolina – NCHICA (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill)
• Ohio – Greater Cincinnati HealthBridge (Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana)
• Ohio – Ohio Health Information Partnership
• Oklahoma – Oklahoma Foundation for Medical Quality, Inc.
• Oregon – OCHIN Inc. (Primary)
• Pennsylvania – PA REACH East – Quality Insights of Pennsylvania, Inc. (Eastern)
• Pennsylvania – PA REACH West – Quality Insights of Pennsylvania, Inc. (Western)
• Puerto Rico – Puerto Rico Regional Extension Center (Ponce School of Medicine)
• Rhode Island – Rhode Island Quality Institute
• South Carolina – South Carolina Research Foundation
• South Dakota – CAHIT – (Dakota State University)
• Tennessee – Qsource
• Texas Regional Extension Centers
  • College Station – Texas A&M Health Science Center Rural and Community Health Institute (RCHI)
  • Houston – University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
  • Irving – Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council Education and Research Foundation
  • Lubbock – Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center
• Utah – HealthInsight, Utah-Nevada
• Vermont – Vermont Information Technology Leaders, Inc.
• Virginia – VHQC and the Center for Innovative Technology, for The Virginia Consortium
• Washington, DC – eHealthDC – DC Regional Extension Center
• Washington, DC – National Indian Health Board
• West Virginia – West Virginia Health Improvement Institute Inc.
• Wisconsin – WHITEC (MetaStar, Inc.)

Benefits of electronic health records.

For Providers:

• Quick access to patient records from inpatient and remote locations for more coordinated, efficient care
• Enhanced decision support, clinical alerts, reminders, and medical information
• Performance-improving tools, real-time quality reporting
• Legible, complete documentation that facilitates accurate coding and billing
• Interfaces with labs, registries, other EHRs and Health Information Exchanges (HIEs)
• Safer, more reliable prescribing

For Patients:

• Reduced need to fill out the same forms at each office visit
• Reliable point-of-care information and reminders notifying providers of important health interventions
• Convenience of e-prescriptions electronically sent to the pharmacy
• Patient portals for online interaction with providers
• Electronic referrals allow for easier access to follow-up care with specialists