President Barack Obama announced on Wednesday that he was allocating millions of dollars in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) awards to support major healthcare IT and electronic medical records projects at 85 community health centers across the U.S.
The funds are expected to create new job opportunities in construction, clinical staff, and healthcare IT, as well as help provide care for more than 500,000 individuals in underserved communities.
Grants of $508.5 million are being provided through the administration's facility investment program, established to address pressing health center facility needs, according to the White House press announcement. The grants were awarded through a competitive process by the community health centers that applied for them.
Additionally, as much as $88 million will be available to help what the Obama administration defines as "health center-controlled networks" to improve operational effectiveness and clinical quality in health centers by providing management, financial, technology, and clinical support services.
Both programs will be administered by the Health Resources and Services Administration, an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Dr. Fred Rachman, chair of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society's (HIMSS) Community Health Center Task Force, noted that the awards to community health centers will help promote accessible, continuous, and coordinated family-centered care with the support of health information technologies, and will support the adoption and use of healthcare IT to improve the health status of American communities.
Related Reading
Obama stimulus package allocates $20 billion to healthcare IT, February 19, 2009
About 40% of doctors use electronic records: CDC, December 15, 2008
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