ANN ARBOR, Mich.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Health Specialists of Lenawee, P.C. in Tecumseh, Michigan, is the first practice working with the Michigan Center for Effective IT Adoption (M-CEITA) to have achieved “meaningful use” of a certified electronic health record (EHR).
M-CEITA, founded in 2010 with a $19 million grant to the nonprofit Altarum Institute, helps Michigan health care providers adopt certified EHR systems by providing unbiased information and support to navigate the complex EHR marketplace. M-CEITA also received support from the Kresge Foundation.
“Achieving meaningful EHR use means that the technology is fully utilized to create measurable improvements in the quality of care being delivered,” said Dan Armijo, M-CEITA director. “We congratulate Health Specialists for being the first M-CEITA practice to cross this threshold. This is a great example of what is possible in Michigan.”
As a certified rural health clinic, Health Specialists provides vital primary care health services to 40,000 patients in Lenawee County. While the practice was already an EHR user, M-CEITA was able to educate the office on meaningful use, provide an analysis of staff workflows, and help to select appropriate meaningful use measures.
According to Health Specialists CEO Doris Goodlock, M-CEITA’s services were crucial to getting the office prepared to achieve to meaningful use. “When we first decided to go for meaningful use, I thought we were ready, but there were so many little roadblocks and issues that we would not have solved without an M-CEITA expert.”
Having achieved the meaningful use designation, Health Specialists is now eligible to receive $90,000 in incentive payments from the federal government.
Goodlock welcomes the incentive payments but stresses the fact that this is all about better serving patients. “EHRs make everything more efficient and that makes it easier to provide the best possible care to our patients. I am grateful to Medical Advantage Group and the Lenawee Physician Hospital Organization for providing us the opportunity to work with M-CEITA.”
Altarum Institute (www.altarum.org) integrates objective research and client-centered consulting skills to deliver comprehensive, systems-based solutions that improve health and health care. Altarum employs more than 400 individuals and is headquartered in Ann Arbor, Mich., with additional offices in the Washington, D.C., area; Sacramento, Calif.; Atlanta, Ga.; Portland, Maine; and San Antonio, Texas.
CONTACT:
Altarum Institute
Jeff Moore, 703-575-1685
[email protected]
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