Obama administration awarding $975 million to advance health information technology

Obama administration makes grants for health IT

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is awarding $975 million in grants to help states and health care providers adopt health information technology.

The grant money being announced Friday comes from the economic stimulus legislation passed by Congress last year and is part of the administration’s push to get doctors, hospitals and others to move from paper to computerized record-keeping. Administration officials say the grants are designed to provide savings down the road by eliminating duplicative tests and time-consuming paper work.

The White House says the awards will help make health information technologies available to more than 100,000 hospitals and primary care physicians by 2014 while helping to train thousands of people for careers in health care and information technology.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is awarding $386 million to 40 states or entities selected by states to advance the exchange of health information at the state level. Sebelius is also granting $375 million to 32 nonprofits to help develop regional extension centers to assist health care workers on health IT issues.

Labor Secretary Hilda Solis is announcing around $225 million to support 55 training programs in 30 states to help give people job skills for the health IT field. The administration says around 15,000 people should get training.