Putnam General Hospital was recently recognized by the Georgia Health IT Regional Extension Center (GA-HITREC) among 17 of state’s most innovative and influential health care providers for their leadership in the nationwide transition toward electronic health records (EHR).  Comprised of seven individual providers and ten critical access and rural hospital provider organizations, they make up an exclusive group of leaders known as the Meaningful Use Vanguard (MUV). Members at MUV, also known as MUVers, include, Dr. Michael Wayne Early, Dr. Freddy Neal Gaton, Dr. Susan Leigh Jones, Dr. Mark Boles, Dr. Robert Campbell, Dr. Warren Weber, Dr. H. Wayne Templeton, Chestatee Regional Hospital, North Georgia Medical Center, Memorial Hospital of Adel, Emanuel Medical Center, Irwin County Hospital, Morgan Memorial Hospital, Washington County Regional Medical Center, Putnam General Hospital, Charlton Memorial Hospital, Miller County Hospital.

 MUV is an initiative that is designed to honor, thank and convene clinicians who have successfully implemented electronic health records.  The special ceremony, which was part of the 11th Annual Primary Care and Prevention Conference, was sponsored by Hometown Health and Healthcare Management Systems Inc. MUVers serve as local leaders and advisors in the nation’s transition toward an electronically-enabled health care system.

 “On behalf of GA-HITREC, I congratulate all of these providers on this important distinction,” said Dominic Mack, MD, MBA, director of GA-HITREC and deputy director of the National Center for Primary Care at the Morehouse School of Medicine. “Their experience is invaluable in helping clinicians take the necessary steps to transform from paper-based practices to electronically-enabled systems.  We commend them for being at the forefront of EHR implementation, and hope their examples will encourage other clinicians to follow in their footsteps.”

In addition to highlighting the distinguished MUVers, GA-HITREC is also celebrating another triumph. The first incentive payment made under the Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs was awarded to a GA-HITREC provider. Peds Care received $258,000 from the Georgia Department of Community Health through the Georgia Medicaid EHR Incentive Program for their adoption of a certified electronic health record.

Medicare and Medicaid incentive payments are available to eligible professionals and hospitals when they adopt, implement, upgrade or demonstrate meaningful use of a certified electronic health record.  The payments, made through the federal Medicare and Medicaid programs, mean that physicians and other eligible professionals can qualify for as much as $44,000 through Medicare or $63,750 through Medicaid.  Hospitals can qualify for payments of $2 million or more.

GA-HITREC, which serves as the regional extension center designated by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), assists clinicians in Georgia on becoming meaningful users of

electronic health records.