Stimulus funds to pay for EHRs at federal centers

The Obama administration is distributing $88 million in economic stimulus law funding to federally supported health centers to pay for new electronic health records and other health information technology systems. The digital record funding comes from the Health Resources and Services Administration from its pool of $1.5 billion in stimulus money to update buildings and systems at the 1,100 health centers nationwide, according to a Dec. 9 news release. Those centers serve 17 million uninsured or underinsured people. The $88 million will go to Health Center Controlled Networks, which are electronic networks established by three or more health centers to share core business functions. About 53 such networks now exist.