New York invests in RHIOs

The New York (State) Health Department is seeking applications from regional health information organizations for $105.75 million in grants. Last year, it awarded grants worth $52.9 million for the same purpose. Altogether, the state is making available up to $1 billion to restructure and reform its health care delivery system over four years.

The goals of the latest round of funding are to lay a foundation for a health IT infrastructure and to ensure that quality initiatives requiring IT tools lead to the measurement of patient outcomes and provider performance. The state also wants to improve the ability of providers to collect clinical data for reporting on health trends, clinical trials and other research.