The Health Resources and Services Administration is handing out $18.9 million in grants to help community health centers implement e-health records and other aspects of health IT.
The grants are going to 25 organizations nationwide.
The bulk of the money, $14.3 million, will go to 12 health networks, clinics and similar organizations, including one local government agency, the Yellowstone City County Health Department in Billings, Mont. Another recipient is OCHIN, a regional health information network based in Portland, Ore. Those grants are specifically for EHR implementation.
Another group of 10 grantees is getting a total of $3.8 million for other health IT projects, including e-prescribing, health information exchanges, data warehouses and links to state immunization registries.
A final set of six grants totaling more than $700,000 will support organizations' planning for health IT projects.
Three organizations received two grants apiece. They are Clinica Adelante, Surprise, Ariz., which will get more than $909,000; Near North Health Service Corp., Chicago, nearly $1.5 million; and the Maine Primary Care Association, Augusta, Maine, nearly $619,000.
Agency officials said the grants will help move the nation toward the Bush administration's goal of EHRs for most Americans by 2014. HRSA is an agency of the Health and Human Services Department.
