HITECH Priority Grant Programs

The first two HITECH priority grant programs, funded through the Recovery Act, support the national implementation of electronic health records (EHRs) initiative.

Approximately $598 million is being made available through the Health Information Technology Extension Program (Extension Program), to ensure that comprehensive support is available to health technology users.

Under the State Health Information Exchange Cooperative Agreement Program $564 million will be awarded to support efforts to achieve widespread and sustainable health information exchange (HIE) within and among States through the meaningful use of certified Electronic Health Records.

Health Information Technology Extension Program

The Extension Program will provide grants for the establishment of Regional Health Information Technology Extension Centers (Regional Centers) that will offer technical assistance, guidance and information on Electronic Health Records best practices. 

The Extension Program also establishes a national Health Information Technology Research Center (HITRC), which will gather relevant information on effective practices and help the Regional Centers collaborate to identify and share EHR adoption, effective use, and provider support.

Grants under the Extension Program will be awarded on a rolling basis with:

• An expected 20 grants awarded in the first quarter of FY2010,
• Another 25 in the third quarter, and
• The remaining awards in the fourth quarter of FY2010.

The funding support continues for four years, after which the program is expected to be self-sustaining.  Of the total federal investment, $50 million is dedicated to establishing the national HITRC, and remainder is set aside for the Regional Centers.

Learn More: Health Information Technology Extension Program Fact Sheet

State Health Information Exchange Cooperative Agreement Program

The State Health Information Exchange Cooperative Agreement Program will help States and Qualified State Designated Entities (SDEs) to develop or align the necessary policies, procedures and network systems to assist electronic information exchange within and across states, and ultimately throughout the health care system.  A key to this program’s overall success will be technical, legal and financial support for information exchanges across health care providers. 

Learn More: State Health Information Exchange Cooperative Agreement Program Fact Sheet

Summary

Together, the HITECH Priority Grants Program will offer much-needed local and regional assistance and technical support to providers while enabling coordination and alignment within and among states, ultimately allowing information to follow patients anywhere within the health care system.

To learn more about the HITECH priority programs and application requirements, please visit http://healthit.hhs.gov/HITECHgrants.