A new "Health IT Dashboard" from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT presents a wealth of data about the national EHR adoption campaign in both graphic and tabular form. Included in the interactive presentations on ONC's website is detailed information about the office's overall disbursements, its health care innovations grant programs, its workforce program, and its health IT regional extension center (REC) program.
The Health IT Dashboard now includes more than 150 maps presenting ONC state and county data. In June, ONC will publish an electronic health record (EHR) and health information exchange (HIE) dashboard with state-level maps, charts, and data sets that describe trends in physician and hospital utilization of health IT.
On a summary map of funds disbursed to HITECH Act grantees, the current dashboard shows how much ONC has spent in each state and also breaks down its spending by program. The office has dispensed the largest sum, $774 million, to the RECs, followed by $564 million to state HIE initiatives. The Beacon Community program has received $265 million, the third biggest amount.
The presentation of the REC program shows that, nationwide, the RECs have enrolled 140,000 providers; of those, 74% of have met the "live on EHR" goal, but only 11% have attested to Meaningful Use. A bar graph indicates what percentage of participating providers comes from each primary care field, with family practice far in the lead. The accompanying map breaks down REC statistics for each state.
Another presentation shows statistics on the community college consortia that are training health IT professionals. As of January 2012, more than 9,000 students had completed the training; the two-year program's goal is to train 10,500 per year. Also displayed are enrollment figures. Again, there are state breakdowns, as well.
ONC is not the only agency that has worked hard to keep the public informed about the progress of its programs. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) releases a monthly tabulation of figures related to registration and attestation to Meaningful Use in the EHR incentive program. Through March, for example, more than $4.48 billion in Medicare and Medicaid payments have gone to hospitals and eligible professionals. A CMS official recently told the Health IT Policy Committee that the figure has now surpassed $5 billion.
To learn more:
- check out the ONC Health IT Dashboard
- here's the CMS report on Meaningful Use