New York City health IT program a national model

A New York City health information technology project could provide a model for the implementation of stimulus-funded electronic health records in hospitals and doctors offices around the country, reports Government Health IT, a publication of an e-health lobbying group.

"The Primary Care Information Project (PCIP), a program started in 2007 by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, supports the adoption of health IT among primary care providers who tend to the city’s underserved populations," the report explains.

The project provides technical assistance and group purchasing power, and actively seeks partner providers who treat large numbers of Medicaid patients. "The New York project has already received nearly universal buy-in from the city’s under-automated clinics and providers," Farzad Mostashari, assistant commissioner and director of the PCIP, told the publication. He estimated a "99 percent implementation success rate among 1,700 providers involved" (Mosquera, 6/1).