Statement of the problem: Currently, little is known about the extent of EHR adoption by rural physician practices, their intentions to apply for meaningful use incentive payments or their likelihood of achieving meaningful use within established timeframes.

Project goals: The purpose of this project is to assess progress toward the meaningful use of health information technology (IT) among rural physician practices.

Methods: We will employ regression techniques to measure progress towards the meaningful use of health IT in rural physician practices. Our analysis will employ a novel database of physician practice health IT data, the IMS Healthcare Organization Services database. These data will be supplemented with additional sources, including: the AHA Health IT Supplement; the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey; and the Area Resource File.

Anticipated Publications or Products: A peer-reviewed journal manuscript and abstracts for presentations at regional and/or national conferences.

Publications

• Case Studies of Regional Extension Centers Serving Rural Practices: Minnesota and North Dakota
  University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center
  Date: 11/2013
  This case study focuses on the HIT Regional Extension Center serving Minnesota and North Dakota and its experiences working with rural physician practices in the two states.
• Case Studies of Regional Extension Centers Serving Rural Practices: North Carolina
  University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center
  Date: 11/2013
  This case study focuses on the North Carolina HIT Regional Extension Center and its experience working with rural physician practices in the state.
• Rural Primary Care Practices and Meaningful Use of Electronic Health Records: The Role of Regional Extension Centers
  Journal Article
  University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center
  Date: 2014
  Examines the role Regional Extension Centers (RECs) play in assisting rural physician practices implement electronic health records (EHRs).