The 17 Beacon Community programs established across the country have made mixed progress  when it comes to health IT use and quality measures, according to a new report funded by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT. 

The independent National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago spent four years evaluating the Beacon Community Program. The 2009 federal economic stimulus package included funds for Beacon Community grants designed to spur providers’ use of health IT within their communities.

According to the report, the Beacon Communities generally were successful regarding performance metrics and sustained health information exchange (HIE) infrastructure.

However, communities "varied in the degree to which they collaboratively sustained their investments in shared resources for HIE following the end of Beacon funding."

The report noted several challenges including legal and policy constraints; provider readiness; and technology choice. It also offers recommendations for future program design, evaluation and policy including:

• Aligning regional efforts with federal initiatives will help sustain investments made through the Beacon program;
• Analyses should be conducted that show stakeholders "the need and return on investment for performance measurement and electronic data exchange;"
• National leadership is needed to support the creation of an interoperable health system;
• Programs require sufficient time to become operational and see results on cost, health outcomes and quality; and
• Relying solely on claims data provides a "limited" picture of the programs' true effects.

Read the complete report.