LEAWOOD, Kan. - The American Academy of Family Physicians has received a $100,000 federal grant from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to help support the AAFP electronic health record (EHR) pilot project.
The grant will allow six to 12 family medicine practices to plan, implement and evaluate low-cost, standards-based electronic health records. The AAFP will monitor these practices to identify factors that facilitate or hinder the transition to electronic health records. This project will ultimately assist thousands of family physicians to implement EHR systems in their practices.
"This grant will help support technological changes to enable family practice doctors to participate fully in a more modern and efficient health care system," said CMS Administrator Mark McClellan, M.D., Ph.D. "Our support of the AAFP initiative is an important part of the Department of Health and Human Services' broader program to promote the use of information technology to update our health care system and organize it around the best interests of patients."
The AAFP Center for Health Information Technology will oversee the pilot project. "This grant is the next step toward making EHR technology available to all physicians,"said David C. Kibbe, M.D., director of the Center. "The use of modern health-information technology, especially EHRs, is critically important to the future of family medicine."
The Center for Health Information Technology is currently spearheading the AAFP's "Partners for Patients" initiative. This collaborative effort between the AAFP and 12 leading information technology companies, including Hewlett Packard, MedPlexus Inc. and Siemens Medical Solutions Health Services, provides affordable EHR technology to family medicine practices. In addition, Hewlett Packard, MedPlexus Inc. and Siemens Medical Solutions Health Services are all providing technical support teams to the AAFP EHR pilot project.
American Academy of Family Physicians Receives Grant from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
$100,000 Grant will support AAFP electronic health record pilot project
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, June 04, 2004
Contact:
Janelle Davis
American Academy of Family Physicians
(800) 274-2237 Ext. 5222
jdavis@aafp.org
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Founded in 1947, the AAFP represents 110,600 physicians and medical students nationwide. It is the only medical society devoted solely to primary care.
Approximately one in four of all office visits are made to family physicians. That is 240 million office visits each year — nearly 87 million more than the next largest medical specialty. Today, family physicians provide more care for America’s underserved and rural populations than any other medical specialty. Family medicine’s cornerstone is an ongoing, personal patient-physician relationship focused on integrated care.
To learn more about the specialty of family medicine, the AAFP's positions on issues and clinical care, and for downloadable multi-media highlighting family medicine, visit www.aafp.org/media. For information about health care, health conditions and wellness, please visit the AAFP’s award-winning consumer website, www.FamilyDoctor.org.
