{"id":9686,"date":"2016-04-12T11:15:58","date_gmt":"2016-04-12T15:15:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/healthit-gov.go-vip.net\/buzz-blog\/?p=9686"},"modified":"2026-01-06T04:36:33","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T04:36:33","slug":"regional-extension-centers-essential-ground-support-ehr-adoption","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/healthit.gov\/blog\/insights-updates\/regional-extension-centers-essential-ground-support-ehr-adoption\/","title":{"rendered":"Regional Extension Centers \u2013 Essential On-The-Ground Support for EHR Adoption"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Today the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) is releasing a comprehensive evaluation<\/a> of the Regional Extension Center (REC) program and we\u2019re excited to announce that our efforts have already made a major impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2009, most doctors still used pen and paper for medical records. The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, spurred widespread adoption of electronic health records and health information exchange across hospitals and doctors\u2019 offices. As of 2014, nearly all hospitals and approximately three-quarters of doctors reported using certified EHRs. A key element of that rapid HITECH success was its REC program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through the REC program, ONC funded cooperative agreements with organizations across the nation to provide on-the-ground support to thousands of physicians working in solo and small practices, Federally Qualified Health Centers, and other provider organizations with a large number of underserved patients. Many other organizations that received REC support, such as Critical Access Hospitals, were in rural settings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This support included a wide array of services:
\u2022 Selecting and implementing an EHR system and other certified health IT products
\u2022 Achieving the EHR Incentive Programs\u2019 meaningful use requirements
\u2022 Providing assistance with privacy and security, including security risk assessments
\u2022 Practice workflow redesign<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Survey data included in the report released today indicates that 68 percent of the eligible professionals who received incentive payments under Stage 1 of the incentive program were assisted by an REC, compared to just 12 percent of those that did not work with a REC. The survey also found that many providers working with RECs received frequent and tailored help \u2013 often face to face, for as long as it was needed. Many RECs also created both structured and informal opportunities for clinicians to learn from one another, creating economies of scale to reach more providers with limited resources and spread providers\u2019 EHR product-specific knowledge. These findings build on those of a 2012 GAO report<\/a>, which concluded that Medicare providers working with RECs were more than twice as likely to receive an incentive payment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In short, the hard work of thousands of people across the country engaging in and with RECs has contributed to a remarkable increase in the national health IT adoption rate among physicians, nurse practitioners and others. This success in digitizing the health care system is vital to creating a connected, interoperable learning health system that results in better care, smarter spending, and healthier people in all corners of the country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) is releasing a comprehensive […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":619,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_selected_menu":"","_show_breadcrumbs":"true","_blog_show_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"archived-category":[710],"featured":[],"topics":[439,425,440],"class_list":["post-9686","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-insights-updates","archived-category-regional-extension-centers","topics-historical-programs","topics-hit-policy","topics-meaningful-use-macra"],"acf":{"blog_authors":[{"blog_author_profiles":"173339"}],"hp_news_hide":false},"yoast_head":"\nRegional Extension Centers \u2013 Essential On-The-Ground Support for EHR Adoption - ONC Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Discover how the REC program has transformed EHR adoption, boosting healthcare efficiency and access across underserved areas, enhancing patient care nationwide.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/healthit.gov\/blog\/insights-updates\/regional-extension-centers-essential-ground-support-ehr-adoption\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Regional Extension Centers \u2013 Essential On-The-Ground Support for EHR Adoption\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Discover how the REC program has transformed EHR adoption, boosting healthcare efficiency and access across underserved areas, enhancing patient care nationwide.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/healthit.gov\/blog\/insights-updates\/regional-extension-centers-essential-ground-support-ehr-adoption\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"ONC Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-04-12T15:15:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-01-06T04:36:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/healthit.gov\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/08\/ONC.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"628\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"sleigh\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"sleigh\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/healthit.gov\/blog\/insights-updates\/regional-extension-centers-essential-ground-support-ehr-adoption\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/healthit.gov\/blog\/insights-updates\/regional-extension-centers-essential-ground-support-ehr-adoption\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"sleigh\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/healthit.gov\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0719592fcc77f0e269f191216da0aae7\"},\"headline\":\"Regional Extension Centers \u2013 Essential On-The-Ground Support for EHR Adoption\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-04-12T15:15:58+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-01-06T04:36:33+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/healthit.gov\/blog\/insights-updates\/regional-extension-centers-essential-ground-support-ehr-adoption\/\"},\"wordCount\":419,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/healthit.gov\/blog\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Insights & Updates\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/healthit.gov\/blog\/insights-updates\/regional-extension-centers-essential-ground-support-ehr-adoption\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/healthit.gov\/blog\/insights-updates\/regional-extension-centers-essential-ground-support-ehr-adoption\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/healthit.gov\/blog\/insights-updates\/regional-extension-centers-essential-ground-support-ehr-adoption\/\",\"name\":\"Regional Extension Centers \u2013 Essential On-The-Ground Support for EHR Adoption - 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