Mississippi REC Boasts Highest Percentage of PCPs Committed to EHR Adoption

Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC) helped boost the Mississippi Regional Extension Center (REC) to the top as the nation’s leading REC, with the highest percentage of targeted primary care providers who have committed to adopting an electronic health record (EHR).

Louisiana-based eQHealth Solutions, a provider of healthcare solutions including medical management, care coordination and other healthcare improvement services— also known as the Louisiana Health Care Review—was awarded the federal grant to serve as the REC for Mississippi last April, with a grant-required mandate to sign up 1,000 primary care providers in Mississippi and to help them incorporate electronic health records (EHRs) into their medical practices by 2013.

By Sept. 20, 463 primary care providers had signed on, far exceeding the goal of 298 agreements by the end of September. By Nov. 1, more than 650 primary care providers had signed up with the REC. Of those, 223 providers are associated with Mississippi’s network of community health centers.

“We’re very pleased by this level of effort, and excited that Mississippi physicians see the value of adding an EHR to their practices,” said David Bergman, project officer with the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) for Health Information Technology.

All FQHCs in the state are members of the Mississippi Primary Health Care Association (MPHCA), a non-profit organization representing 21 Community Health Center (CHC) members with more than 150 locations. The MPHCA is tasked with improving access to healthcare for the medically underserved and indigent populations of Mississippi. 

“As we continuously seek ways to improve access to care for the medically underserved and low income citizens of our state, we recognize that systems such as electronic health records can help us achieve this goal,” said MPHCA executive director Robert Pugh. “When fully implemented, the staff at a health center will have ready access to not only their patients’ medical records, but can share that information with hospitals and other service providers. The result of this connectivity is increased access that leads to better care.”

eQHealth’s success in Mississippi is in stark contrast to most RECs, which have reported difficulty hiring qualified staff, with officials citing workforce, training, and educational materials among critical concerns.

Randy Bordelon, program director for the Mississippi REC, said collaborating with MPHCA members has allowed the REC to fast-track efforts to bring the latest health information technology to rural Mississippi.

“We understand that small, rural health centers face numerous challenges in providing quality healthcare to their patients,” he said. “By assisting them with implementing an electronic health record, they’ll become more efficient and can better serve more patients.”  

The Mississippi REC not only works with small rural health centers, but also provides services to other primary care physicians in Mississippi that see large volumes of Medicare, Medicaid and uninsured patients. Other providers, hospitals and specialists who are adopting EHRs may receive REC services for a minimal cost. Those services are free to small and rural primary care practices with less than 10 physicians.

The Mississippi REC also works collaboratively with other industry partners throughout the state. For example, even though the Mississippi REC didn’t sponsor or help author the $686,000 federal grant that Itawamba Community College received to integrate the Health IT Workforce Training Program into its curriculum, “we’re working with them on various things related to our program,” said ICC spokesperson Lori Little.

eQHealth Solutions is recognized as a national leader among the network of Medicare quality improvement organizations in the areas of disease prevention, wellness and chronic care, and also has utilization review and family planning contracts with the Mississippi Division of Medicaid.

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