HHS, DOL release $1B in ARRA funds for health IT adoption, healthcare jobs
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The agencies said the awards will help more than 100,000 hospitals and primary care physicians adopt health IT by 2014 and train thousands of people for careers in healthcare and IT.
The HHS grant awards, which total more than $750 million, are part of a federal initiative to build capacity to allow meaningful use of health IT, according to the agency. The ARRA assistance at the state and regional level will facilitate healthcare providers' efforts to adopt and use EHRs in a meaningful manner.
Of that more than $750 million investment, $386 million will go to 40 states and qualified state-designated entities to facilitate health information exchange (HIE) at the state level, while $375 million will go to an initial 32 non-profit organizations to support the development of regional extension centers (RECs) that will aid health professionals as they work to implement and use health IT--with additional HIE and REC awards to be announced in the near future. RECs are expected to provide outreach and support services to at least 100,000 primary care providers and hospitals within two years.
The more than $225 million in DOL grant awards will be used to train 15,000 people in job skills needed to access careers in healthcare, IT and other high-growth fields. Through existing partnerships with local employers, the recipients of these grants have already identified roughly 10,000 job openings for skilled workers that likely will become available in the next two years in areas like nursing, pharmacy technology and IT.
The DOL grants will fund 55 separate training programs in 30 states to help train people for health jobs and meet the employment demand for health workers, according to the agency. Employment services will be available via the DOL’s local One Stop Career Centers, and training will be offered at community colleges and other local education providers.
A complete listing of the state HIE, REC and job training grant recipients are listed on HHS’ Web site: http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2010pres/02/20100212a.html