NYC Regional Extension Adoption Center for Health (NYC REACH)

In February 2010, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONCHIT) awarded a grant to the Fund for Public Health in New York to collaborate with the NYC Department of Health’s Primary Care Information Project to establish the NYC Regional Extension Adoption Center for Health (NYC REACH). REACH is one of 32 Extension Centers designated by HHS as having the expertise and capacity to help providers adopt electronic health records (EHRs) and achieve Meaningful Use, improving the quality and efficiency of health care in NYC.

A New York City mayoral initiative founded in 2005, PCIP succeeded in bringing over 1,800 providers live on Electronic Health Records (EHRs) and is now the largest community-based EHR program in the country. Under the administration of FPHNY and PCIP, REACH will build on PCIP’s strong foundation and expects to assist 2,500 providers in the adoption of EHRs by the end of 2010, reaching 2.5 million patients in NYC.

As a pioneer in the field of health IT, PCIP recognizes that improving the quality of care goes far beyond EHR adoption. REACH guides participating providers in every stage of EHR implementation, from selecting an EHR vendor to billing analysis to using the EHR in a meaningful way. REACH exists to make the transition from “paper” to “Meaningful Use” as seamless as possible, helping providers improve the quality of their performance and, subsequently, health outcomes among their patients.

For more information on how to join REACH, go to http://www.nycreach.org.