The University of South Alabama has been awarded a $7.5 million grant to lead Alabama in a nationwide effort to improve health care through electronic health record systems.
The competitive grant awarded to the Center for Strategic Health Innovation in USA's College of Medicine is one of the largest in the University's history. It will help primary care providers in Alabama transition to electronic health record systems as part of a national initiative to improve health care efficiency and patient outcomes.
USA is one of 60 nonprofit organizations selected nationwide by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to receive the Health Information Technology Regional Extension Center award. The grant is administered through the HHS's Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology.
Funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the four-year grant establishes the Alabama Regional Extension Center, or ALREC, a consortium of partners led by USA that includes the Medical Association of the State of Alabama, Alabama Medicaid Agency, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Auburn University, Alabama Primary Healthcare Association, Childersburg Area Rural Health Network, and the JHD Group.