A project of L.A. Care Health Plan, HITEC-LA helps L.A. County small practices and clinics switch from paper files to electronic records to support better patient care
Los Angeles – L.A. Care Health Plan’s project, HITEC-LA, has achieved its program goal of helping 3,000 eligible primary care providers reach meaningful use with electronic health records (EHRs). Since 2010, HITEC-LA has worked with more than 5,800 L.A. County health care providers. Providers that use EHRs can expand the capabilities of their practices, leading to improved clinical quality, lower costs and better patient experience.
As more providers reach meaningful use, we are confident that we are moving the needle for our vulnerable communities,” said L.A. Care Health Plan CEO John Baackes. “Ultimately, an improvement in efficiency, care coordination and patient engagement will lead to better health outcomes.
A project of L.A. Care Health Plan, HITEC-LA will continue to offer EHR technical assistance to eligible Los Angeles County Medi-Cal providers. Recently HITEC-LA was awarded a three-year $10.8 million contract from the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) to help more than 2,000 Medi-Cal providers continue meaningful use.
Through HITEC-LA, L.A. Care is able to offer safety net providers the same health IT resources available to private providers, which enhances their ability to serve some of the most vulnerable patients in the county.
HITEC-LA belongs to the network of Regional Extension Centers across the country formed under the 2009 Federal Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act. In addition to developing Regional Extension Centers, the HITECH Act also created the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs, which provide incentive payments to eligible professionals as they adopt, implement, upgrade or demonstrate meaningful use of certified EHR technology. Eligible health care providers can receive up to $63,750 under the Medicaid EHR Incentive Program or up to $44,000 under the Medicare EHR Incentive Program.