{"id":4661,"date":"2013-05-08T09:00:24","date_gmt":"2013-05-08T13:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.healthit.gov\/buzz-blog\/?p=4661"},"modified":"2025-08-19T18:18:39","modified_gmt":"2025-08-19T18:18:39","slug":"electronic-health-records-nursing-ehr-implementation-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/healthit.gov\/blog\/electronic-health-and-medical-records\/electronic-health-records-nursing-ehr-implementation-story\/","title":{"rendered":"Electronic Health Records and Nursing: An EHR Implementation Story"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This is the third blog post in a National Nurses Week series<\/a> about how Electronic Health Records and nursing have evolved over time and how Health IT is helping nurses provide coordinated care to their patients. <\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The vast, rugged landscape of southeastern New Mexico may seem like a different planet for those living in other parts of the United States. But 11 years ago, I made the long trek South and West and I now call Hobbs, New Mexico home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How RECs helped me implement my EHR<\/b><\/wp-block><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I am one of more than 20,000 nurse practitioners (NPs) working with a Regional Extension Center (REC) like the New Mexico Health Information Technology Regional Extension Center\u00a0(NM HITREC) to adopt, implement and meaningfully use an electronic health record (EHR) system<\/a>. My practice is appropriately named Rural Health Care, LLC (RHC), and we recently implemented and demonstrated meaningful use of an EHR system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I wanted to share with you some statistics about electronic health records and nursing in rural areas. In the US, nearly one quarter (22%) of the more than 35,000 primary care nurse practitioners in the United States work in rural areas; many operate independent private nursing practices similar to mine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Due to a variety of federally funded programs, many rural NPs like me are now meaningfully using health information technology. And in my case, RECs were essential in providing me and more than half of all those rural primary care NPs assistance in adopting EHRs<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was eligible for EHR incentive payments<\/b><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As an NP I am eligible for the Medicaid Incentive Payment Program, which provides up to $63,750 over six years for eligible providers to adopt and demonstrate meaningful use of an EHR. My reasoning for implementing the EHR was to stay ahead of industry IT trends; but to be perfectly frank, I would not have done it without the incentives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have seen the benefits of EHRs<\/b><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Since implementing the EHR system, however, I can see that the benefits extend far beyond the incentives. In my practice, the EHR has improved patient outcomes due to integrated standards in the system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n