There are currently 62 RECs throughout the country and they have received $677 million of funding from the HHS. According to the Office of National Coordinator, the goals of the RECs “include outreach and education, EHR support (e.g., working with vendors, helping choose a certified EHR system), and technical assistance in implementing health IT and using it in a meaningful way to improve care.”
CompTIA consistently has advocated for RECs to help connect small medical providers with small IT solution providers. In a white paper CompTIA released this summer, titled “Health IT Deployment: The Essential Role of Small IT Solution Providers,” we recommended several opportunities to RECs to better assist in creating a partnership between small medical providers and small IT solution providers:
- RECs should have a list of local solution providers that are readily available to medical providers. These lists should be neutral and provide a diverse menu of local options to assist with the EHR transition.
- RECs should offer guidance and training to IT solution providers on “meaningful use,” data breach, and notification standards.
- RECs should work actively to partner medical providers with IT solution providers and resist attempting to serve as the IT solution provider themselves.
RECs have an important role to play in health IT, and providing small medical providers with access to skilled IT professionals will not only reduce the burden on medical providers, but also will increase adoption of electronic health records.
All IT solution providers interested in the health IT transition should reach out to their local REC to identify any opportunities they are providing to IT solution providers and to ensure their business is included in any vendor list they are making available to medical providers.
