The grant is expected to be administered through the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology and managed by Altarum. It is expected to create over 100 new jobs in Michigan. M-CEITA will also be supported through an additional $1m grant from The Kresge Foundation.
Michigan’s health information technology regional extension center, M-CEITA is expected to offer electronic health record adoption assistance services to the approximately 17,000 primary care providers in Michigan. M-CEITA will also help Michigan providers maximise their share of over $700m in federal incentives available to decrease financial barriers to HIT adoption.
Lincoln Smith, president and CEO of Altarum Institute, said: Health information technology holds the promise of bringing transformational change to health care. With this grant, M-CEITA will act as an advocate for providers across Michigan, giving them the support they need as they adopt critical technology and considerably improve the quality of care we all receive.
The American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009 established the health information technology regional extension center program as part of an overall initiative to modernise health practices, adopt and use technology, share critical patient information, and meaningfully use HIT.